Dreaming of a Beautiful Christmas
by Homura Bakura
Summary: A collection of fluffy Christmas oneshots about my favorite ships (mostly involving Yu-Gi-Oh with some other scattered OTPs). Contains copious amounts of fluff. Like so much fluff. You don't even know.
1. O Christmas Tree

**A/N: This is the beginning of my Christmas fanfiction project! Basically I'm just going to drown you in OTP fluff. :3**

**Here's the first chapter of this series, involving what I call Eternityshipping (although technically officially called Possessshipping) which is Judai Yuki x Johan Andersen x Yubel. **

**Yubel doesn't know what Christmas is, and cannot understand the point of having a pine tree in the middle of the room. Perhaps the boys can enlighten her on this Christmas tradition?**

**Please enjoy!**

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><p>Johan would not stop <em>humming<em>.

Normally, this wouldn't bother Yubel, as she was used to Johan's cheerful antics and often actually enjoyed them. But he had been humming the _exact. Same. Song._ For about the past hour and a half as he bustled around the house.

She folded her arms, leaning against the wall and feeling disgruntled.

Johan's house wasn't very big, just a simple one floor building. It felt warm and cozy though, and was a comfort from the tent she and Judai had been sleeping in for the past three weeks. It was getting colder out, though, and even Judai wasn't keen on the idea of long-term camping in the snow. They happened to be in Eastern Europe at the time, so Judai had suggested crashing at Johan's place. Yubel was only too happy to agree.

"_Besides..."_ he had said. _"It's getting to be that time of year again, isn't it? Wouldn't be too much fun to spend it alone..."_

Yubel wasn't sure what 'that time of year' was, but if it got Judai out of the cold and into a place where someone was sure to make him eat, she was all for it.

Judai was probably currently perched on the couch where he had been all day, probably still looking a little miffed that Johan hadn't wanted him to help with cleaning up the house.

"Johan, are you sure you don't want me to help you out with anything...?"

"Nah, you two have been traveling for quite a while, so just relax for a bit! Don't worry, I'll put you to work helping me with the lights on the tree later."

Lights? On a tree? Yubel snorted. It must be some kind of joke. She phased through the hallway wall to come out into the living room.

It was a small, but warm affair. The deep brown maroon carpet and dark wood-paneled walls soaked in the yellowish light from the hanging ceiling fan, giving the room a dim but warm ambience. A fireplace sat on one side of the room, and it was currently dancing with a warm, toasty fire. Above the fireplace hung what appeared to be very huge socks. Interesting. She doubted those would fit Johan, but why would they be hanging over the fire? Had they gotten wet?

"Actually, Judai, could you come here a second?" Johan called from the kitchen, where he had already bustled himself off to.

"Sure," Judai said, jumping up.

Yubel remained in her ethereal form in the living room, still confounded by the socks. They didn't seem to match each other, and there were only three of them. One was a bright red, another one blue, and the last one a deep royal purple. What on earth were they for? It was just about as mystifying as the pine tree sitting in the corner of the room. Sure, it smelled nice, but what on earth was Johan thinking bringing a tree inside his house? She didn't get it at all.

She was busy staring at the tree and trying to divine its purpose when Johan and Judai returned from the kitchen. Judai was hefting a pair of cardboard boxes, and Johan had some clear containers that seemed to be full of round, shiny objects.

"Ah, Yubel! We were just going to put the lights on the tree, do you want to help?"

"Lights...?"

"Yeah! We're decorating! For Christmas!"

"And that is...?" Yubel said, raising an eyebrow.

Johan sent Judai a sidelong glance. Judai smiled, a bit embarrassedly.

"What, you haven't explained it to her yet?" Johan said. "Come on, Judai."

"It just didn't come up?" Judai said, shrugging and blushing a bit. "Besides, Christmas in Japan...well, it's a lot different, kinda...never mind, Johan, you're better at explaining things anyway. Where do you want these boxes?"

He didn't wait for an answer, setting down the boxes next to the tree. Johan rolled his eyes.

"Geez. Both of you. This is why I worry when you two are on your own."

He sighed. Then he looked up at Yubel and nodded.

"Christmas is a holiday," he said. "It's mostly a Christian holiday about the birth of Jesus, I guess...but quite a lot of people celebrate it."

"The tree is a part of this?" Yubel said. "What purpose does it serve?"

"Hell if I know," Judai said. He had opened the box and was pulling long cords of green stuff with little colored bulbs on it. "How do I do this again?"

"Yeah, I don't really know what the tree is for either," Johan said, laughing. "It's just a tradition. You get a Christmas tree, and you decorate it with lights. Well, technically here we usually wait until Christmas Eve to do it...but when I heard you guys were coming I really wanted to decorate early."

He padded over to Judai and took the string of lights from him, demonstrating how it was to be wrapped around the tree. The two boys started getting the lights into place.

"It's just a winter tradition, then?" Yubel said. "You seem awfully excited about it."

Johan laughed.

"I've _always_ loved Christmas," he said. "It's just such a cheerful time of the year. And this year, I get to spend it with both of you...that makes me really happy."

Yubel found a smile coming on. Well, she still didn't get it. But it was making Johan pretty happy, and even Judai looked like he was getting a smile on his face working on the tree. She breathed out.

"Well, if it something that you like...I guess I'll have to participate too," she said.

She floated over to the tree. Judai smiled, and tapped the card locket around his neck. It only took a second for the spell to take hold, and then Yubel and Judai were temporarily separated and she had a physical presence again. With a smile of gratitude, Yubel joined in the tree wrapping. It still seemed very, very silly to her to put lights on a tree...

About halfway through the project, Johan paused to run over to the stereo and put a CD in, claiming that you couldn't decorate the tree without Christmas music. It wasn't long before Yubel was well-acquainted with the songs that Johan had been humming – but they weren't quite as annoying as she had thought before, so it was all right.

"Done!" Johan said, stepping back and nodding. "That went so much faster than usual."

"Let's get them plugged in," Judai said.

He knelt down by the wall and pulled the cord over to the outlet. The moment the plug thunked into place, Yubel drew in a breath.

Beautiful lights glowed from inside the frames of paine branches: red, green, blue, glittering softly against the shadowy pine needles. It was..._beautiful_. She hadn't thought something so odd could be so gorgeous but...

"It's beautiful, right?" Johan said quietly.

He had stepped over to stand on one side of her. Yubel nodded, still staring at the lights. Smiling quietly, Judai came over to stand on her other side, his hands in his pockets.

"I guess I didn't really explain cause I thought it'd just be more fun to experience," he said, rubbing one finger under his nose. "You like it?"

"Yeah," Yubel said.

Quietly, she slipped one hand into Johan's, and the other into Judai's. They squeezed her hands back.

"We should do ornaments now," Johan said.

"Ornaments?" Yubel said.

"Yeah!" Judai said, breaking away and opening another box and pulling out a small red orb on a hook. "We hang these on the tree next."

"That sounds silly. Why would you hang things on a tree?"

Judai and Johan exchanged grins.

"Oh, she's gonna love this," Judai said.

"Just wait til you see the tree when it's done," Johan said, squeezing her hand again. "Don't worry. This Christmas...I think you're really going to enjoy it."

She smiled. She couldn't help it – the boys' cheer was contagious.

"I suppose I'll have to," she said. "If you two numbskulls have anything to say about it."

She pulled a red orb from the box, balancing the hook around her finger. She looked up at the tree, with its glittering lights, and then down at the small shiny sphere, which reflected the lights in its surface.

She smiled.

Perhaps it wasn't such a silly tradition after all.


	2. Kissin' By The Mistletoe

**And here I feature Kiddyshipping (Mokuba Kaiba x Rebecca Hopkins/Rebecca Hawkins)!**

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><p>Mokuba Kaiba was probably the densest person <em>ever<em>.

Rebecca Hopkins stood against the wall, trying not to look like she was pouting. She cupped her punch in both hands, nestling it against her chest. She had gotten all dressed up for this, and he wasn't even looking for her, much less at her.

The Christmas party was taking place in one of the smaller rooms of the Kaiba mansion - although "smaller" for the Kaibas still meant "I can probably fit half my house in here." There were garlands of holly and strings of lights hanging over the walls and arching over the doorways like beautiful canopies, sparkling with shiny gold and silver ribbons that had been tied into bows around them. The Christmas tree was huge, about twice Rebecca's height, and sat in the corner gently sparkling with lights that reflected in big ornaments. The proof that this was indeed the Kaiba household came in the form of the dragon ornaments hanging among the candy canes and colored orbs. There was more than one Blue Eyes hanging from the branches, and a big one holding a star orb like the ones that showed monster levels on cards sat at the very top of the tree. Geez. She was surrounded by nerds (although that was something of a hypocritical thought on her part, as she herself had a Luster Dragon or two hanging from her own Christmas tree at home).

A long table covered with a fancy gold and red tablecloth stretched in the middle of the room, covered with bowls of food and platters of vegetables. Jonouchi and Honda had staked out one end of the table and were practically stuffing themselves, Anzu shaking her head at them exasperatedly. Anzu looked gorgeous tonight, in a figure hugging midnight-blue dress covered in sparkles, and her hair done up in a bun with fake diamond hair pieces. _All _of the girls looked great tonight: Shizuka in her long, floral printed green and pink dress, Mai with her low cut crimson ensemble, Ishizu in a deep emerald that dragged along the floor and elegant long white gloves.

Rebecca tugged at her own dress. It was a dark magenta with silver trimming that curled in fanciful designs around the bodice and waist. She had gotten Mai to do her hair, although she had refused the older woman's suggestion to go with contacts tonight. She _liked_ her glasses, and besides, they matched her dress with their deep red frames. She refused to believe in the stereotype that girls - or anyone, really - were prettier when they dropped the glasses. Yugi was a case in point - he actually looked more handsome than usual with his glasses on. Rebecca grinned. He didn't really need them unless he was reading. He must have forgotten to take them off again.

This was all mostly a distraction for her, though, trying to pretend that she didn't care that Mokuba wasn't paying attention to her.

The object of her frustrations in question was currently on the opposite side of the room. He looked actually really handsome tonight, she thought grudgingly. He had somehow been persuaded to wear a suit with a dark maroon tie. His unruly black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the single earring in his left ear that he had gotten pierced a few weeks ago glittered silver. He laughed at something that Noa was saying.

"Mou," Rebecca muttered, sipping at her punch. "I bet he doesn't remember I'm here."

When she had walked into the room, she hadn't been able to find him, and when she had, he had simply raced past her saying something about preparations that he had to finish up. Yeah, right. What preparations would _he_ have to work on? He had a crap ton of servants and stuff, they were the ones that had set everything up.

She couldn't help herself from pouting any longer. She sighed deeply. This sucked. She had gotten all dressed up and everything, and it was like he didn't even want to see her. Were they going out or not? He always seemed so unsure about everything. Maybe that was why he was avoiding her.

"Rebecca-chan, is something wrong?"

Rebecca glanced up to see Shizuka looking at her with concern. Rebecca blushed. Had she been so obvious after all?

"It's nothing," she lied, but Shizuka raised an eyebrow and Rebecca sighed. "Okay, it's something. Mokuba's been ignoring me the whole night."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Shizuka asked.

"About twice in the fifteen minutes we've been here...he keeps running off saying there's something he has to check on, or something he has to set up."

"Well, he was in charge of planning the party...since Seto-san wouldn't do it," Shizuka said with a soft laugh.

"I know...but he doesn't have to keep ignoring me and running away..."

Shizuka smiled sympathetically. She reached out to squeezed Rebecca's shoulder.

"Well, then, you have to make him pay attention, don't you? Don't just sit there and take it. That's no way for a lady to behave."

Rebecca looked up at Shizuka, startled. It was the last kind of advice she expected from the sweet, quiet Shizuka. But the sparkle in her eyes said that she definitely meant it. Rebecca smiled hesitantly.

"Okay," she said.

"That's it," Shizuka nodded. "If he's worth it for you, Rebecca-chan then he'll stop ignoring you, I promise."

"Thank you, Shizuka-chan."

Shizuka smiled, nodded her head, and stepped off lightly to find her brother. Rebecca sucked a steadying breath. Shizuka was right; it was about time she stopped waiting meekly to be noticed and just went out there and chased him down. She downed the last of her punch and slammed the cup down on a table. Then she straightened her back and started to march across the room towards Mokuba.

As she moved, however, Mokuba was turning towards another corner and starting to fiddle with something. The faint twangs of Christmas music began to fill the room. Mokuba looked up with a goofy grin on his face.

"Couples dance time!" he called across the room. "No backing out - yeah, I saw you, big brother, don't think you're getting out of this!"

Seto looked like he wanted to bang his head against a wall, but Ishizu put a hand on his arm and smiled mischievously. Mai grinned and grabbed a protesting Jonouchi by the arm, dragging him out onto the dance floor. Yugi laughed at the two young men's discomfort, and held out his own arm for Anzu.

Rebecca had reached Mokuba by then. Mokuba glanced up. He paled slightly at her irritated expression.

"Okay, you," she said. "No more ignoring me, okay? I didn't come here to sit in a corner by myself."

"Told you she was going to be mad about that," Noa said, raising his eyebrows.

Mokuba ducked his head sheepishly.

"I - gah, I'm sorry, Bex, I didn't...ummm..."

Noa sighed. He pushed Mokuba forward by the shoulders, nearly knocking him into Rebecca.

"You've only been planning this for three weeks; just do it all ready," Noa said. "Rebecca, don't let him chicken out like he's been threatening to do all evening."

"Chicken out of...what?" Rebecca said.

Mokuba was blushing profusely.

"Ummmm...Rebecca...wanna dance with me?"

Rebecca felt her cheeks growing warm.

"Well it's about time you asked me something like that, you numbskull," she said.

Mokuba's blush remained, but his uncertainty melted into a goofy grin. Rebecca smiled too, and followed Mokuba out into the dancers. He was awkward for a moment, placing his hand very gently on her side as though afraid he was going to burn her or something. They hesitated for a moment, listening to the music. Eventually, noting Mokuba slight shake in the knees, Rebecca rolled her eyes and took the lead.

They twirled together for a few moments, finding the beat of the music.

"Bex...I'm sorry about avoiding you tonight," Mokuba said. "I was...a little nervous...because I...I've never really done this before..."

"Oh, bollox. You danced with Mizuko last year. You've danced before."

_And you're really good at it,_ she didn't say out loud.

"No I mean...ummm...this is something I've been trying to plan for a while and..."

They twirled towards the middle of the other dancers, and Mokuba brought them to a hesitant pause. He swallowed, and glanced up. Rebecca followed his gaze. She felt her entire face turn warm and her insides get fuzzy.

"That's mistletoe," she whispered. "Hanging above us."

"Uh-huh...and we danced under it..." Mokuba said, looking really shy and nervous.

Rebecca looked back down at him. He licked his lips, still holding her in a dance position.

"Oh, you, nervous thing you," Rebecca said. "Do I have to do _everything_ myself?"

And she leaned in on tip toe to press her lips against his.

For a beautiful moment, time stopped, the music faded, and there was absolutely nothing but the feel of his lips on hers.

Then it was over, and they were ducking their heads from each other, still blushing slightly.

"Ummm...was that okay?" Mokuba said. "I mean...the mistletoe idea, not my kiss, I mean, I hope the kissing was okay too, it's not like I've practiced -"

"Oh shut up, you, and kiss me again," Rebecca said, pecking him on the lips.

Mokuba smiled shyly.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven for being dumb earlier?"

Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I believe I told you to be quiet and kiss me again," she said. "I'm waiting."

He grinned. Then he leaned and their lips pressed together once more.

Perhaps he wasn't so dense after all.


	3. Baby It's Cold Outside

**This chapter is Pairshipping (Rei Saotome/Blair Flannigan x Tyranno Kenzan/Tyranno Kenzan)!**

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><p>Rei squealed with laughter, ducking under a snowball as she made a run for the dorm.<p>

"I'll be right back! Gah! Stop throwing snowballs, I'm already retreating! Back off, already!"

Sho pelted her with another three snowballs anyway, and then took a faceful of snow from Manjoume and started chasing the black-clad boy around in circles with a giant block of snow in his short arms. Rei giggled and pushed into the Ra Yellow dorm, headed for the common room. The dorm supervisor kind of mumbled at her to take her boots off, but she didn't hear him, tracking snow all over the floor.

"Kenzan! Kenzan-kun!" she shouted, pushing into the common room. "Come on, where have you been? We're having a snowball..."

She hesitated, staring at the pile of blankets in front of the dorm fireplace that shifted only slightly.

"Kenzan?"

"Unnnf. Close the door. You're letting the cold in."

Rei clapped a gloved hand over her numb face, trying to smother her giggles.

"Oh my gosh...Kenzan? Is that actually you under there?"

Kenzan's eyes barely poked up over the pile of no less than five blankets.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding rather drowsy. "It's too cold to think."

"Are you kidding me? It's practically boiling in here!"

Her face was already starting to burn as it readjusted to the heat. She wanted to unbutton her jacket but was planning on heading back out in a second, so she left it. She could only imagine what it felt like underneath all of Kenzan's blankets, plus the fire blazing in front of him and the evidence of him having drank at least three mugs of hot cocoa.

"Come on, lazybones! We have a day off because of the snow and everyone wants to have a snowball fight! You love competition and stuff! Judai's even playing!"

"No way...too cooooold..." Kenzan moaned, ducking back under the blankets.

"Come oooon!" Rei said.

She stomped over and started to pull some of the blankets off of him.

"You'll feel much warmer after running around!" she said.

"Noooo," Kenzan groaned. "It's cold and there's snow...my dinosaur DNA can't handle it..."

"Oh, don't be such a baby; you're not _that_ much dinosaur!"

She managed to pull all the blankets off of him, but he just curled up into a tiny ball and covered his head with his hands.

"Geez, and you're even wearing like two sweaters...are you _really_ that cold?"

"Yes," Kenzan mumbled.

He flinched slightly as some snow in Rei's hair dropped onto his arm. Rei put her hands on her hips and pouted for a minute.

"Fine then, party pooper," she said. "We'll just have fun without you!"

She turned on her heel and marched away, hoping that Kenzan would show off some of his usual fire at being called a party pooper. But apparently the cold affected him much more than she had expected, because when she paused at the door and snuck a glance over her shoulder, he was just groggily pulling the blankets back over himself.

She sighed. She glanced longingly out through the window where everyone was having fun throwing piles of snow at each other. She looked back at the pile of blankets that was Kenzan.

"Oh, you," she grumbled.

With a bit more force that was necessary, she ripped off her gloves, hat, and coat, and threw them onto the couch. She wiggled out of her boots. Kenzan jumped a little when she plopped down next to him.

"Give me some of those blankets," she said.

She pulled them up and over her shoulders so that she could snuggle in close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder and then drawing the blanket around them both.

"You'll get warmer faster if someone hot-blooded shares some heat with you," she teased.

Kenzan blushed.

"Rei..."

"Shush," Rei said, snuggling deeper. "I'm just letting you know - we're only staying here until you're so warm that you'll want to jump in a snowbank to cool off. And then we're going to play in the snow. Understood?"

Kenzan grinned. He slipped his hand around her small shoulders.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

They leaned into each other, and stared into the warm, flickering depths of the fire.


	4. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

**Here's one non-YGO pairing...Homura Akemi x Madoka Kaname from Puella Magi Madoka Magica!**

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><p>The stars twinkled far away in the night sky, like snowflakes scattered across velvet. Homura stared up at them, watching her breath spiral up into the air.<p>

"Homura-chan!"

She pulled out of her reverie, looking back down. She smiled, although she hid it in her scarf. Madoka moved forward very carefully in her skates, arms spread out wide to balance herself on the ice. She had the widest smile on her face, just like always. It felt like nothing in the world could dampen that smile - at least, not tonight.

"Homura-chan, look, I think I'm getting the hang of it!" Madoka said, pushing off.

She caught herself on a small divot in the ice, however, and wheeled her arms frantically. Homura zipped forward on her skates. She caught Madoka by the arm and steadied her.

"Ah, thank you Homura-chan!" Madoka said.

Just like always, the sound of her name in Madoka's voice sent a happy shiver through Homura's spine.

"You're just a little too tense," she said.

She slipped her gloved hands onto Madoka's shoulders, massaging gently.

"Don't be scared of falling. That's the key."

"I think you're more scared of me falling than I am, miss over-protective," Madoka teased.

Homura blushed a bit. With a laugh, Madoka slid her big pink mittens into Homura's hands.

"Come on, Homura-chan! Let's skate!"

Laughing as well, Homura gripped Madoka's hands back. With the smooth grace she was accustomed to, she started to skate slowly backwards, drawing Madoka along with her. Madoka giggled as they slid around in dancing circles, letting herself be pulled along by Homura's hands.

"It's so beautiful tonight," Madoka said. "I'm so happy I get to be here with you. This is really a lot of fun!"

Homura smiled, her heart fluttering happily.

"Watch this," she whispered.

She released one of Madoka's hands and held her palm down towards the ice, willing the magic from her ring down towards the frozen water. Madoka's sharp intake of breath was the only reward Homura needed for the use of the precious magic. The ice began to glow and ripple in pale blue and violet. The rays of light played across both girl's skin, as though water rippled across them. Madoka looked up into Homura's eyes, her pale pink eyes sparkling with awe.

"Oh, Homura," she breathed. "It's so beautiful."

Homura sighed with happiness.

"Not as beautiful as you," she teased.

Madoka slid across the ice into Homura's arms, sighing as she leaned her head into her shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Then she leaned up and brushed her lips against Homura's briefly.

The blush that grew profusely across Homura's cheeks was all it took to bring yet another, dazzling smile to Madoka's face.

It certainly was the most wonderful time of the year.


	5. All I Want for Christmas Is You

**This chapter is Destinyshipping (Ed Phoenix/Aster Phoenix x Takuma Saiou/Sartorious) from Yu-Gi-Oh GX!**

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><p>"Saiou."<p>

"What?"

"...nothing. Never mind."

Saiou shrugged and went back to staring at his tarot cards, spread out across the lap table that he had set up on his hospital bed. Despite not having the gift of foresight anymore, it seemed second nature for him to fiddle with them when he was bored, stressed, or trying to distract himself.

Ed half-glared at the back of Saiou's head. He had been glancing up at his boyfriend for the past ten minutes now, positive that something was up. It was making it very hard for him to concentrate on his book. With an exaggerated sigh, he marked his page with a bookmark and set the book down on the arm of the chair.

"What is it?" he asked Saiou. "You've been doing that for the past hour and a half. What are you doing?"

"Trying to divine what you want for Christmas."

Ed snorted, but the light tone in Saiou's voice was comforting. Saiou's being more relaxed was a very welcome trend after the whole Society of Light incident. Ed actually felt calm around Saiou again instead of tense and uncertain, and he was sure Saiou was feeling the same.

"You know, you could just ask me what I want," Ed said.

Saiou glanced over his shoulder, smiling slightly.

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise," he said.

Ed rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. He popped up from his chair and walked over to the bed, leaning over Saiou's shoulders and wrapping his arms around him, so that he was looking down at the tarot cards.

"Okay then, what do the tarot cards say that I want?"

"They're pretty uncertain," Saiou said, laughing softly. "Just as uncertain as I am."

Ed grinned, leaning his head against Saiou's.

"These are different from your usual cards," he said. "Is that supposed to be the Hanged Man?"

He pointed out the card, which appeared to be Santa Claus hanging upside down. Saiou laughed.

"My sister," he said. "She apparently saw Christmas tarot cards at a shop and couldn't resist. You know how she is with impulse buys."

"Yeah, I know how she is...because she got it from you."

Ed reached over Saiou's shoulder to turn over the first card. He could barely suppress his grin at the one he had happened to turn over.

"Oh, look," he said, holding the card up to Saiou's eye level. "Looks like your cards do know what I want for Christmas."

He was holding up The Lovers card, which, in the Christmas edition, featured a pair of people with mistletoe hanging between them. Saiou had to laugh, and he turned his face towards Ed to peck him on the lips.

"If I'm really _all_ you want," he said. "Although I can't imagine I'm enough."

"Just get better," Ed said, squeezing Saiou's shoulder with his free hand. "So that we can go somewhere for Christmas. Deal?"

"Deal."

Ed smiled, and kissed him again.


	6. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

**And now for some Midriffshipping (Marik Ishtar x Amelda/Alister)!**

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><p>"Hell, can this get any cheesier?"<p>

"Hush, I'm trying to watch."

Amelda rolled his eyes. Marik's eyes, however, were glued to the screen, his head resting in Amelda's lap. He chuckled to himself as all the elves started freaking out about how the one elf didn't want to make toys.

"I can't believe you like this stuff," Amelda said.

Marik reached up to slap him lightly on the shoulder. It was an awkward motion, however, and it ended with him almost falling off the couch.

"It's _cute_," Marik said. "Look at it, Amelda – they're little animated puppets. Look, the elves are all shitting themselves because the one elf wants to be a dentist – tell me that's not hilarious."

"It's not."

"You're a Scrooge."

Amelda rolled his eyes again.

"So how long are we going to be doing this?"

"Hey, you asked to be a pillow when you made the mistake of sitting down."

"I could just push you off, you know."

Marik rolled his head so that he could look up at Amelda, giving him his best impression of puppy eyes.

"But that would be so incredibly mean of you," he said.

Amelda had to crack a smile.

"You're ridiculous."

He leaned down and pecked Marik on the forehead.

"You're lucky I like you."

"Yep," Marik said, grinning as he turned his eyes back to the TV.

Amelda smirked to himself. He waited for one second, two seconds, three...then he gave Marik a shove. Marik yelped, but he managed to catch himself.

"Hey, you're gonna make me miss the good parts!"

"You were asking for it, mister."

"Aww, Amelda, you're hurting meee."

Amelda stood up as Marik sat back on the couch.

"Leaving already?" Marik said, sounding disappointed.

"I'm just going to make hot chocolate. Call me when the snow monster shows up – that's the only part I care about."

"Aww, you don't like the misfit toys? That's my favorite!"

Amelda pushed the back of Marik's head lightly as he walked past.

"You know, _you're_ lucky that I like _you_," Marik called after him.

Amelda laughed softly.

"I suppose we're both a couple of lucky bastards then."

"Damn right. Now hush, you're gonna make me miss the plot."

Amelda had to laugh at that as he moved into the kitchen.

"Plot," he chuckled. "What plot?"


	7. Winter Wonderland

**And now one of my very very rare pairs that I don't think anyone has ever written for before (please tell me I'm wrong T-T)...Distantshipping (Luka x Rally Dawson)!**

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><p>Snow was not something to celebrate – at least it never had been for Rally. In the slums of Satellite, snow meant cold. Cold meant scrounging around for moldy blankets and extra clothes in garbage bins. It meant spending freezing nights in the tunnels, snuggling into whatever could be found to keep warm. It meant hiding in cardboard boxes to avoid waking up with snow all over his face and fingers so cold that it was a wonder that he hadn't lost them.<p>

"A what fight?" he asked, blinking with surprise.

"A snowball fight!" Luka said, her cheeks red from the cold. "Lua and I are going to the park with some other kids from class! Do you want to come?"

"I..."

Luka had shown up at the door of Blitz, Nerve, and Taka's new mechanic shop, where Rally had been staying while he was attending Duel Academia with Luka and Lua and everyone.

"I mean, you don't have to," Luka said quickly, shifting with sudden awkwardness. She rocked on her heels and wrung her pink-gloved hands.

She looked like a marshmallow in her fluffy white coat. A super cute marshmallow...his cheeks warmed a bit at the thought.

"I'm sorry, I guess you must be sick since you didn't come in to school today, I didn't meant to bother you..."

"Oh, no, you're not bothering me at all," Rally said quickly. "I didn't go to school today because...well..."

They had made a new life here in the newly connected City and Satellite, but Rally's coat still wasn't really up to par with the cold. Besides, he didn't like to go out in the snow...even though he_ knew_ he was going to get to a heated building at the end, he still shivered to think about those cold, terrible nights when he wasn't sure he was going to wake up in the morning...

"I...I've just never had a snowball fight before..." he said awkwardly. "I'm sorry...I just didn't realize snow was...I don't know...I don't really like it..."

Luka ducked her head slightly, looking embarrassed.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't push you or anything..."

Then she jumped, the motion paired with the sound of something thumping against her coat.

"LUA!" she shouted, whirling.

Across the street, Lua was grinning broadly, clad in a big, dark blue coat and a black hat and gloves. He was rolling snow between his hands into a sphere shape.

"Come on, Luka! Or I'll pelt ya again!"

"You'll hit Rally and he's not in his snow stuff!" Luka shouted back. "Be more aware of what you're doing –"

The next snowball pelted her in the chest, just shy of hitting her in the face.

"_Why you_ –"

Lua squealed with a delighted laugh and took off. Luka jumped forward, scooping up snow and hurling it. It missed by a few inches since Lua was running.

"I'll get you back for that, you jerk!" Luka shouted. "What if you had hit Rally?"

Lua just laughed as he scurried off to join the group of kids from school who were also running towards the park.

"Geez," Luka said, putting her hands on her hips. "Am I even related to him?"

Rally stared out after Lua and the others. He _did_ want to spend time with everyone. He glanced down at the snow with some distaste. There was just so _much_ of it. Like almost half a foot or something.

Luka turned back towards Rally.

"Anyway...um...yeah, I'm sorry to bother you...it's okay if you want to stay home."

"Luka-chan, is it fun to play in the snow?" Rally asked.

Luka paused, blinking.

"Uh...well, yes. I mean, at least, I've always thought so. Snow is really pretty, too, right? Look at how it sparkles and stuff!"

Rally stared out at the drifts of white, but couldn't quite see what she was talking about. He shivered.

"It's like the whole world is different in the snow. Outlined with white, something that sparkles like lots of little diamonds," Luka continued. Her eyes went a bit unfocused, her sight elsewhere. "It's just like...a winter wonderland...like that song!"

Rally didn't know what song she was talking about. But she looked so happy...

Well...maybe...it wasn't like he was living in the slums anymore. Things were different...maybe he could see snow the way she did someday.

"Um, okay, I'll come," Rally said. "But probably not for too long...I'll get cold..."

Luka's whole face lit up, and Rally felt his cheeks grow warm. She grabbed his hands and squeezed them. The soft feeling of her gloves felt warm in his hands.

"Oh, I'm so happy! Thank you, Rally-kun!"

Rally blushed harder.

"Um, I have to get my coat, I'll meet you at the park," he said quickly.

"Oh, it's no trouble, I'll just wait outside!"

"R-right," Rally said, ducking back in and closing the door.

He hurried down to the closet. Blitz leaned his head through the door at the sound of his footsteps.

"What's up, Rally?"

"I'm, uh, going to the park with some friends."

Blitz's eyes brightened.

"About time you got out of the house! You feeling better from this morning?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, Taka just brought home some new winter stuff for everyone, so check to make sure the stuff in the closet fits you, okay?"

Rally felt something in him lift a bit at the thought of new winter clothes.

"Oh, tell him thank you, please!"

"No problem. Have fun."

With slightly higher spirits, Rally opened the closet and pulled out the smallest coat. It was a deep burnt orange color, and had a nice firm weight in his hands. Pulling it on he could already tell that it was warmer than his old coat. He jammed on a hat, gloves, and boots, and then hurried back to the door.

Luka was in fact still waiting outside, kicking at the snow with her boots. She looked up with a smile at his approach.

"Okay, I'm ready," Rally said. "But how do you do a snowball fight anyway?"

Luka giggled, and they started walking towards the park.

"It's really just a messy free-for-all," Luka said. "Watch out for my brother, his throws tend to get people in the face whether he means to or not."

"So you just scoop snow and throw it back and forth?"

"Yeah...it sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?"

She laughed again, a little bit nervously this time. Rally glanced down at the snow they were passing. As they walked, he ducked down quickly and scooped up some snow. He could kind of feel the cold through his gloves, but these were at least warmer than his old ones. He rolled the snow into a vague sphere shape. Then he considered it for a minute. Was this really fun?

He glanced sidelong at Luka, who was humming to herself.

He couldn't hide his grin.

Luka jumped and spluttered a bit when Rally tossed the snow at her stomach.

"R-Rally!" Luka said, with surprise.

Rally clapped a hand over his mouth to still his giggles. Luka looked so surprised! Her face was priceless! Luka's face went completely red. She ducked down, scooped some snow, and flung it at Rally. Rally squealed and ran away. The snow still caught him in the arm, and Luka was already bending down to get more snow to throw at him.

"I hope you know I always get back people twice over in snowball fights, Rally Dawson!" Luka said, her voice almost obscured by the laugh that was bouncing out of her.

Rally ran through the snow, as Luka continued to fling snowballs at him. He laughed aloud, the release of the sound feeling like a weight coming off his chest. He turned over his shoulder to grin at Luka.

Perhaps this was a winter wonderland after all.


	8. Step Into Christmas

**A/N: Time for another non-YGO pair that I love...Hilda x Ravio from Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds.**

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><p>"Why is it so <em>cold<em>? You step outside and it's like stepping over into...into I don't know, something evil and cold!"

Hilda laughed softly to herself. She reached across from her seat to try and fix Ravio's scarf, which was riding up into his eyes. He couldn't reach it himself, his arms just a tad farther away than they should be since he was wearing so many layers.

"Toughen up a bit, Lorulian hero," she teased.

"I'm no Lorulian hero and you know it, princess."

Ravio definitely did not like the cold and snow. He huddled inside the carriage with his nose buried in his scarf, wearing so many layers that his arms were almost stuck straight outwards. Hilda didn't really mind the cold, herself, and wore only a warm cloak over her dress.

"Honestly, though, Ravio, isn't this nice?" she said, glancing out through the carriage window as they trundled along. "How many years has it been since the seasons turned the right way in Lorule?"

"Mmmph. I could do without getting winter back, thank you very much. The snow can all stay up in Death Mountain district for all I care!"

Hilda put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. Ravio grumbled a bit more into his scarf, but eventually fell silent. There was only the sound of the carriage wheels bumping along through the ruts in the snow. Hilda stared out at the landscape through the little window. Snow. For the first time in...she didn't know how long. It seemed that there was only ever snow on Death Mountain before now, but with the Triforce of Lorule restored, all of the seasons had gotten back into order. Death Mountain had even thawed out when summer came. Despite the cold, she felt a warmth blossoming in her chest. Things were going to be okay. Even the world around them was slowly fixing itself; the old holes and caverns that had broken up Lorule were beginning to seal up again, like wounds closing over. If cold and snow was what she had to deal with, if it was a symbol of her precious kingdom going back to normal, than she was only too happy to see it.

Tiny flakes began to flutter past the window. She sat up in her seat.

"Ravio! Look! It's snowing!"

"Oh no, not more of it!" Ravio groaned.

Hilda wasn't listening to him, though, scootching over in her seat to press her nose and hands to the window, so she could see the snowflakes floating from the sky. One or two fell on the window itself, and she could see the beautiful patterns they had made.

She looked over at Ravio, and was surprised to see him smiling at her.

"What?" she said. "I thought you didn't like snow."

"I don't," Ravio said. "But I like to see you smiling. I never got to see that enough."

Hilda blushed. She looked back out the window at the flakes falling from a gray sky. Even the gloomy look of the sky was not gloomy to her; she had been used to the icky green of before the Triforce's restoration.

A bit hindered by his layers, Ravio also scootched over so that he was closer to Hilda.

"Well...I guess if the snow makes you so happy, I'm going to have to be thankful for it," he said. "At least a little bit."

Hilda smiled and turned back to face him. She reached across the way to put her hand on his, squeezing it through the thick gloves.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For always staying by me."

Ravio grinned over his scarf. Then, with some difficulty, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the nose.

He then promptly fell over into the aisle between the seats, having lost his balance with all his layers.

"Gah! Hey! Hilda! Don't laugh – stop laughing and help me up!"

Hilda couldn't help it. She couldn't help the laughter that rang out from her throat and shook her whole body.

It was a nice feeling, to laugh again. She hoped that every day she would be able to.

She leaned down to help Ravio up, still giggling.

Well, if Ravio was going to be around all the time, she was positive she would never want for laughter.

_Thank you, Ravio. For everything._


	9. Home For the Holidays

**A/N: and yet another non-YGO (I know, weird for me, huh? XD)...Ed x Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>"Uuuugh."<p>

"Make that sound one more time and I will pin you to the bed and pour milk down your throat."

Edward flinched a little at that, but his sour expression didn't change.

"Winry, do we have to do this? I don't know why we have to put so much thought into it..."

Winry shot him a fiery glare and he backed down.

"Okay, good, now that we're on the same page," Winry said. "What do you think about this for the menu?"

She held out her clipboard of notes. Edward barely looked at it.

"Great, looks great, can I go now?"

Winry smacked him on the head with her clipboard.

"Ow! Dammit, Winry!"

"Edward Elric so help me I will loosen all the screws on your arm if you don't suck it up and help me plan this Christmas party!"

"Winry it's just going to be our friends and family! They're not going to care how much thought we put into it!"

"Well I do! I do care! And you're gonna care about it if I have to make you!"

They were both standing down, glaring at each her with their hands balled into fists, trembling slightly with the frustration.

And then before either of them knew what they were doing, they were both leaning into the kiss. Winry was the one that broke away first.

"Hey," she said, blushing slightly. "You know you're not going to get out of this just by doing that."

"You kissed me first," Edward mumbled, looking down and going really red.

"It's your own fault for putting your face so close to mine."

"Whatever. I'm still not going to care about what you plan, you know."

"Well, you -"

"Because no matter what you're going to pull it off. Because you're good at stuff like that...and I'm not, so I don't want to screw it up."

Winry blushed a little harder.

"You really think that?"

"Of course I do," Edward said. "You're awesome at these things."

Winry ducked her head.

"Okay, fine," she muttered. "But I still want you to look over this menu and make sure it sounds good."

Edward cracked a small smile.

"Fine. If it makes you happy."

And as he took the clipboard, he planted another quick kiss on her cheek.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbled.


	10. Deck the Halls

**It's finally time for my DM OTP: Vaseshipping (Atem x Mana)!**

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><p>"Atem! Atem! Look, look, look! It snowed last night!"<p>

Atem smiled despite his grogginess. Mana had her face pressed up against the window, her eyes wide and sparkling.

"There's gotta be like, a whole foot out there! Look, Temmy, look how beautiful it is!"

"Only you would get excited about snow," he teased, getting out of bed and crossing over to her.

He slid his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. She giggled and leaned back into him.

"But I've never gotten to see snow for real, you know," she said. "It's only been six months since I came to the modern world! I didn't know it would be so pretty!"

Atem looked out into the dawning day, the sunrise sending sparkles of red and purple across the glittering snow.

"Well," he said. "I guess it _is_ rather pretty. Too cold, though."

"You're such a Scrooge," she giggled, nudging him backwards with her hips.

"Where did you learn _that_ phrase?" he said, smiling.

"From the Christmas specials I was watching last night! Oh, oh! Come on to the living room now!"

She popped away from him and ran down the hallway. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Where does she get all that energy this early in the morning?" he muttered.

But he followed her anyway, padding down the hallway in his bare feet.

Mana was kneeling in the middle of the living room, where their Christmas tree was twinkling in the corner.

"I just learned about this one yesterday!" she said cheerfully at his approach. She had been like this for the past week and a half, finding out something new every day about Christmas and wanting to implement it. "Look! Stockings!"

She held up of their older socks with a huge grin. They were stretched out and one of them had a big hole in the center.

"We don't have a fireplace, but we can just hang them on the wall, right?"

Atem couldn't help himself. He laughed, and then tried to hold it and just shook silently.

"Whaaat? What's so funny?"

"I – I'm sorry," he said between giggles. "You're just so...you're so adorable and cheerful and it just makes me so happy."

Mana's cheeks deepened in color.

"Are you teasing me?" she asked, still blushing.

He grinned and crossed over to her, putting his hands on top of hers.

"Tell you what, I think we have some better looking stockings in the cabinet downstairs," he said. "Not that my old stinky socks weren't good enough but...I don't know how you dealt with the smell!"

"Oh, your feet don't smell that bad. Besides, I just washed these!"

Atem grinned. She grinned back, then threw her arms around his neck.

"Merry Christmas!" she said.

"Merry Christmas," he said, hugging her back.


	11. Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

**And now for some Nellshipping! (Amane Bakura x Noa Kaiba)**

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><p>"Amane-chan? Amane? Okay, you won...I can't find you."<p>

Noa turned in a big circle in the middle of his living room. He was trying to stop himself from smiling because this really wasn't something to be cheerful about, but he couldn't help it. He just imagined the tiny Amane crouched in some little nook with her hands over her mouth and shoulders shaking with quiet, muffled giggles, and it brought a smile to his face.

Still, that smile wasn't going to last if he couldn't find Amane before his father got home, which was probably going to be any moment now.

"Amane...Amane, you win at hide-and-seek. Can we play something else now? Like maybe outside at the park? If my father knows you snuck in here..."

Tiny giggles erupted from from corner of the room for a split second and then cut off. He glanced over. No, she wouldn't have...

The absolutely giant Christmas tree sat in the corner, twinkling with the most expensive and gaudy ornaments his father had been able to find. The branches were thick and full, especially around the base – she wasn't...was she? Well, she had been quite enamored with it when she had seen it...Noa had seen her own Christmas tree and it was much, much smaller, decorated with cheap plastic ornaments, real candy canes, and sloppy ornaments that Amane herself had made out of clothespins and Hershey's kisses. Privately, Noa liked Amane's tree better. It seemed...more approachable. His own tree felt like something out of a museum that he wasn't allowed to get too close to without setting of an alarm. That's why he couldn't understand if Amane had really...

"Amane-chan?" he said, sneaking closer to the Christmas tree. "Come on, I said I give up."

"You didn't say olley-olley-oxen-free," Amane's voice drifted up from under the Christmas tree. "You have to say it if you give up."

"Found you!"

He had ducked his head under the tree branches while she was talking. She shrieked and fell over against the tree trunk. Noa's throat went dry when one ornament fell off and shattered.

"Oh _no..._" he said.

Amane went pale.

"I – I'm sorry, Noa-kun...but you scared me..."

Noa knew it was mostly his fault, but why had she had to hide under the tree?

"My father's going to _kill_ me," he moaned.

He ducked out from under the tree to inspect the damage. Only one ornament had fallen...and it was a generic red sphere so maybe his father wouldn't notice it he cleaned up the damage...oh, who was he kidding, his father noticed _everything._

Amane crawled out from under the tree. She looked mortified.

"I'm so, so, so sorry Noa-kun," she said. She looked on the verge of tears, her bottom lip wobbling. "I shouldn't have hid under there. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Amane-chan," Noa said, patting her on the shoulder. "It's not your fault..."

But he felt a terrible pit growing in his stomach and he thought he was going to be sick. Maybe his father wouldn't notice. Maybe he wouldn't notice.

"Let's pick it up," he said. "I'll get the broom."

"Kay," Amane said.

And then her eyes lit up.

"Wait! Noa-kun, I have an idea so you won't get in trouble!"

And she leapt to her feet and bolted from the room.

"Amane-chan! Where –"

But then he heard the sliding door in the room over opening up and the crunch of her feet as she ran outside into the snow.

"Amane..." Noa said. Why had she left?

Feeling even sicker, he ran to get a broom and back into the living room. Most of the pieces were big enough to just pick up and put into the trash can, but it was taking him a little while to pick up the smaller ones. The broom wasn't working well on the carpet, and he knew he didn't have the time or strength to go lift the vacuum cleaner out of the maid's cabinet downstairs.

He heard a door slam far away and felt his face drain of color.

Father was home.

And he sounded like he wasn't happy today; maybe Christmas sales weren't doing so well, because he was yelling at one of the maids for being too slow to come get his coat. Noa hid the broom quickly, and tucked the garbage can back in its spot. But what about the open space on the tree? Maybe he wouldn't notice. Maybe he wouldn't notice...

"Noa-kun!"

Amane's voice hissed at him from somewhere behind him and he jumped. Her face was poking out from under the tree – how had she gotten across the room without being noticed like that? She was some kind of ninja.

"Here! Noa-kun!" Amane said.

And her hand came out from under the tree and pushed a red, spherical ornament at him.

"Where did you..."

"From my tree! At home! I thought it looked a little like it! Is it good enough?"

She looked really worried. Noa took the orb. It was definitely of a much cheaper make than the delicate one that had been on the tree previously – also Amane's name and birthday was scrawled along the back, but maybe it would stand up to casual inspection if he turned it right...just until he could sneak a spare out of the basement...

Noa could hear his father's footsteps clomping down the hall.

"Thank you," he said to Amane. "Now quick, go before father knows you were here."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" she whispered.

"Yes, of course, just go, okay?"

"Merry Christmas, Noa-kun," Amane said, and she disappeared under the tree. He tried to look around the room for where she might be using the furniture to sneak back outside, but he didn't see her until the flip of her white hair disappeared around the corner, down the hall towards the back sliding door.

He quickly replaced the ornament on the tree, and ran across the room. He hopped on the couch and grabbed his book, opening to a random page in the middle so that it would look like he had read most of it – hopefully the summaries he had read on the Internet earlier would be enough to fool his father into believing he had spent the last three hours reading, and not playing hide-and-seek with the girl from down the street.

Gozaburo tromped into the room. Noa looked up, pretending to have been engrossed in his book.

"Welcome home, father," he said.

Gozaburo glanced around the room – he seemed suspicious for some reason, but that could just be because he was in a bad mood, and he was suspicious of everything when he was angry. His eyes grazed the tree and Noa's heart rate picked up.

Then he shook his head.

"Have you almost finished that?" he asked, nodding at the book.

"Yes, father. It's very engrossing."

"Good. I'll want to hear your analysis over dinner."

And then he was gone. Noa breathed a huge sigh of relief, letting the book fall back into his lap.

"Thanks, Amane," he whispered.

Then he closed his eyes, and imagined decorating a much smaller tree with less fragile ornaments, in a small room like Amane's living room, with Amane giggling beside him and hanging up sloppy ornaments made of Hershey's kisses and clothespins...


	12. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**Featuring Tieshipping (Honda x Miho)**

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><p>"Ah! Honda-kun, perfect timing! Could you pull that pot off the stove?"<p>

Honda had had to stop dead in his tracks for a moment when he stepped into the kitchen, but he quickly jumped back into action at her request.

Miho looked so cute, with her silky purple hair tied up in a bun and the pink apron printed with cartoon cats. He snuck another glance at her as he pulled the pot of what appeared to be chocolate off the stove.

"I didn't know you would be here so early," he said.

"Miho told Bakura-kun and Anzu-chan that Miho would help with the cooking! They had to run and grab some extra ingredients so Miho said that Miho would get the pudding finished for the pie. Is anyone else here yet?"

"Oh, yeah, Jonouchi answered the door...I thought it was weird that he was the one to answer Bakura's door...if Bakura's out getting groceries that explains it."

"Yep! They'll be back soon."

She hummed to herself as she bustled over to the cupboard and pulled out the premade pie crust.

"You look really cute, Miho-chan," Honda said before he could think about it. "That apron suits you."

Miho blushed.

"Oh, thanks, Honda-kun," she said. "Anzu-chan lent it to Miho. Miho doesn't have one..."

"Really? You don't cook often?"

He had always imagined Miho being one of those girls that was really good at all the normal domestic tasks – although he had realized more recently that she was the messiest person he knew and he had had to teach her how to use the laundromat, so he realized he shouldn't jump to conclusions.

"Miho is actually not really good at cooking," she admitted, blushing deeper. "But you can't really ruin pie with premade crust and instant pudding, right?"

"I guess not," Honda said, smiling. "Don't worry, it just takes practice. Cooking I mean."

Miho glanced up at him.

"Are you any good at cooking, Honda-kun?"

"Huh? Oh, well...a little bit. I mean, if I have a recipe...sometimes my mom needs some help around the house so I have to do some of the cooking."

Miho stared down at the pie crust in her hands. She seemed about to say something. Then she shook her head and bustled over to the counter to continue her work.

"You just have to pour the pudding in and then it will set for a while, right?" she asked, looking uncertain.

"As far as I know..." Honda said.

Miho frowned. She reached for the pot and a spoon and made to start pouring the pudding in.

"Oh _no_," she whispered.

"What? Is something wrong?" Honda asked.

Miho looked up, looking mortified.

"I...it's not coming out of the pot...I think I...I think I cooked it too long, or maybe I didn't add enough milk, but..."

She looked on the verge of tears. Honda took the pot from her and checked it. Yeah, it was almost as hard as a rock. He glanced at the stove. Oh, she had had the heat up too high...

"Is it...is it ruined?" Miho asked.

Honda looked over at her. Her lip was trembling, and she looked like she was going to collapse on the floor right now. He opened his mouth and then closed it. Oh, geez, what was he supposed to say?

"Well...um..."

"I knew it!" Miho said.

She pulled off her apron with an angry yank and threw it across the room.

"I'm no good, I can't do anything right!" she cried, sobbing into her hands. "I'm just stupid! Everyone says so – all Miho can do is go shopping and pick out pretty clothes!"

"Miho! Miho-chan, that's not true! Everyone makes mistakes...Miho-chan..."

Miho shrugged away from his hands and kept crying. He just stood there, a little uncertain. What was he supposed to do? Miho was really, really upset about this – maybe something else was going on.

"No one says that you're stupid, Miho-chan," he said firmly. "And if anyone does...I'll punch them, okay?"

Miho sniffled, but didn't look up.

"Listen, Miho, it's gonna be okay...oh!"

There was another box of instant pudding on the counter. He walked over and grabbed it.

"Come on, let's do it together this time. Sound good? We know what to do now...that's why we make mistakes!"

Miho glanced up between her fingers. She sniffled again.

"Are you sure...?" she whispered. "Are you sure...you want Miho to..."

"Yeah, of course I want you to make it with me! Come on, you have to have a success today. We're both average at cooking, so maybe if we put that together we'll be able to be awesome!"

She giggled a little bit at that, but her voice cracked. She wiped at her eyes.

"Okay. Let's try."

Honda smiled.

Miho went to retrieve her apron, and the pair got to work. The instructions were pretty simple – in fact, the only thing Miho had done wrong was misread the temperature for the pudding to be made at.

About fifteen minutes later, they were pouring a perfect pot of pudding into the pie crust.

"There we go!" Honda said. "See! You can do it. Sometimes we have to mess up, though, and that's how we get better at things."

Miho's eyes were still a little red, but she smiled.

"Thank you, Honda-kun," she said. "The pie's going to be good, right?"

"Really good," Honda promised.

She smiled a little wider, and then moved to put the pie away into the fridge to set. When she came back, she stood in front of Honda with her hands clasped behind her back, hesitating for a moment.

"Honda-kun...thank you," she said. "You know, Miho...I always wanted to be good at cooking. So that I could help my mom too. Because she's always so busy...so...Honda-kun...do you think..."

She ducked her head.

"What?" Honda asked.

"Um...maybe...could you help me learn to cook better? I know you said you weren't very good, but you helped me feel more confident and..."

She looked up at him through her bangs.

Honda felt his cheeks growing warm.

"O-of course, Miho-chan," he said. "If you really want me to help, and not someone better, like Bakura or Anzu..."

Miho's eyes lit up.

"Thank you, Honda-kun!"

She threw her arms around him. Then she popped away, looking embarrassed.

"Um..."

With a shy smile, she lifted the apron off of her neck, and then threw it over Honda's neck instead.

"I think it looks cute on you too," she said.

And then she blushed further and fled the kitchen.

Honda watched her go, feeling his cheeks grow redder by the second.

"We're back, Miho-chan...oh? Honda? Are you cooking now? Why do you have Miho's apron?" Anzu asked.

Honda flushed.

"Ummm...it's nothing, never mind," Honda said.

He took of the apron and ran away into the living room before Anzu could ask anymore questions.


	13. Silent Night

**Featuring Softshipping (Ryo Bakura x Shizuka Kawai)**

* * *

><p>Ryo awoke in a cold sweat, words stuck in his throat.<p>

He mumbled incoherently for a moment. Then a soft, cool, hand touched his forehead and began to stroke his hair softly.

He was leaning against someone. They were smaller than him, and warm...

"Shizuka?" he murmured.

"You fell asleep," Shizuka whispered back. "I wasn't sure whether to wake you up...but you didn't seem very happy..."

He sat up. Despite the heat from his thick sweater and the fire crackled in the fireplace, he felt cold, and he shuddered. Shizuka squeezed his hand.

"Just a moment," she said.

She kissed him softly on the forehead before she walked out of the living room. He smiled slightly. Then the frown returned, because he could not remember what he had been dreaming. It had had something to do with the darkness again...he shuddered. Why was he so cold?

"Here," Shizuka said softly.

She was back, and she was holding out a mug of something steaming.

"This should warm you up," she said, smiling and holding another mug to her chest.

Ryo smiled gratefully and accepted the mug. He blew on it for a moment before sipping. The warmth exploded down through him, and he savored the taste of chocolate.

Shizuka smiled at the grin that spread across his face, sitting down beside him and snuggling close. She cupped her own mug close to her chest.

"Feel better?" she whispered.

"Mm. Thank you," Ryo said.

Then he sighed, and leaned back into her. She let out her own sign of contentment.

The night was quiet and warm. The dreams of darkness felt far away.

He closed his eyes, just enjoying the feeling of her small frame beside him, the sound of her heart beating in the silence.

It was going to be okay.


	14. You're My Christmas Present

**Featuring Mami Tomoe x Nagisa Momoe from Puella Magi Madoka Magica**

Nagisa had taken charge of the Christmas party, which meant there was an awful lot of plates of cheese scattered among the other dishes (and also hiding in places you didn't expect to find it – Sayaka had let out a squeak and a swear when she had nearly stepped on a plate that was hiding just under the Christmas tree skirt. Kyoko had laughed and stolen the plate before Sayaka could throw it in anger).

"Everyone!" Nagisa said, having jumped up on a chair so that she stood taller than anyone. "It's time for the Secret Santaaaaaa!"

She did a little twirl, her red flouncy dress swooshing prettily and almost fell off the chair.

"Everyone brought a present for it riiiight?" she said.

Mami covered her mouth with one hand, trying to hide her giggle. The little girl was so energetic. It was rather relieving that she could be so cheerful all the time so easily. Everyone else always seemed to have to force it – but tonight, it seemed that Nagisa's cheer had caught on, because everyone was sporting smiles and there were giggles all around.

"Then let's do presents!" Nagisa said, and jumped off the chair.

Kyoko stood up, putting down the now empty plate on a chair (that had to have been her fourth plate already; Mami was glad she had cooked so much).

"Oy! Homura! Catch!"

Kyoko hurled a box across the room, probably with more force than necessary. Homura caught it with her characteristic ease.

"A box of pocky. You shouldn't have," Homura said with just a hint of sarcasm. Still, she was smiling, so that was good.

"You're welcome! Merry Christmas and all that shit," Kyoko said with a grin.

She headed back towards the table for another plate of food, while Madoka leaped up and scurried to follow her with her own carefully wrapped gift; ah, so she had drawn Kyoko. Homura didn't look very happy about that, Mami thought with a smile.

Kyoko was absolutely ecstatic over the little portable stove that Madoka had bought for her, and gave the pink haired girl a huge hug. Homura looked miffed, but didn't say anything. She just crossed the room towards Madoka, tossing her gift into Sayaka's lap as she passed, obviously more interested in holding Madoka's hand than responding to Sayaka's teasing. Sayaka, after opening the gift and being genuinely surprised at the carefully chosen CD inside, jogged across the room and threw her arm over Homura in a jovial manner, causing Homura to look both annoyed and flustered. Sayaka then handed her gift to Madoka, and Madoka kept saying thank you over and over again about the pretty blue bracelets.

Hmm? That was everyone except her and Nagisa so...

"Mami!" Nagisa said, hopping in front of her.

She had a mischievous grin and her hands behind her back.

"Oh, you," Mami said, picking up a small wrapped gift. "You were the one that ran the Secret Santa drawing. Now, what are the odds that we would _both_ be each other's Secret Santas?"

Nagisa just giggled.

"Merry Christmas!" she said.

She brought the thing out from behind her back. It was a very lopsided looking strawberry cake, that looked as though she had forgotten to add enough flower. The frosting was done in lumps and spilled onto the plate, and the strawberries were falling off.

It was the cutest thing that Mami had ever seen.

"Oh, Nagisa-chan," Mami said. "Thank you. It's wonderful!"

Nagisa giggled, but this time she sounded a little bit uncertain.

"Nagisa has never made a cake before," she said. "Nagisa had to ask okaa-san how to make it...Nagisa hopes Mami likes it!"

Mami accepted the plate and picked up her fork from the table beside it.

"I'm going to love it," she said.

Well, it was soggy and definitely needed more flour, but it still tasted sweet and delicious.

"Thank you so much, Nagisa-chan," Mami said. "Now, how about you open your present from me?"

Nagisa's eyes brightened and she took the gift from Mami. The golden wrapping paper went every where, but her little gasp of delight was more than enough to bring a smile to Mami's face.

"It's so cute!" Nagisa squealed, holding up the hat. "Look! It has cheeses!"

It was a black and pink knit hat with dangling pom-poms on the ends shaped to look like wedges of cheese. She happily pulled the hat on over her white hair.

"Mami! Mami! How do I look?"

"Adorable, Nagisa-chan," Mami said. "I knew it would look good on you!"

Nagisa giggled and batted at the dangling cheese pom poms for a second. Then she threw her arms around Mami.

"Thank you, Mami!" Nagisa said. "But you're my best Christmas present!"

Mami smiled and wrapped her arms around the little girl's shoulders.

"And you're mine," Mami said.


	15. This Christmas

**I've only just finished the first half of Zexal and I've fallen hard for these dorks. Featuring Sharkbaitshipping (Yuma Tsukumo x Ryoga Kamishiro "Shark")**

"It's Christmas! Look, look, it's snowing! Just in time, right?"

Yuma ran down the sidewalk with his arms outstretched like he was a jet plane, his scarf fluttering in the wind behind him. Shark rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, only an idiot like you would get excited about the cold," he said.

Yuma skidded across the ice.

"I heard that! I'm not an idiot!"

"Yes, you are."

"Well you're a party pooper! So there!"

Shark let out a small breath of a laugh. Yuma whirled around, looking legitimately surprised at the display of emotion.

"Whoa! Are you smiling?" he said.

"Oh, shove off, Yuma," Shark said, but he really was smiling.

Yuma's grin was so wide it was a wonder his face didn't fall apart.

"I knew it! You do like Christmas! Who doesn't, I mean? You're just being a Scrooge for no reason!"

Shark just shook his head. He glanced up into the darkening sky. It was getting late already. The lights of the shop windows were glowing, and many of them had Christmas lights sparkling in the background.

"Augh, is it that late already?" Yuma said, glancing down at his watch. "My sister's gonna _kill_ me..."

"Yuma."

"Hm?"

"Merry Christmas."

He held out the small, wrapped envelope. Yuma stared wide eyed at it for a moment.

"...huh?"

"Dammit, Yuma, it's a Christmas present, take it and open it."

Yuma looked pretty incredulous, but it didn't take long for that to turn to unabashed excitement – geez, he was such a kid.

He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the XYZ monster Shark had stuck inside.

"Whooaaa! This is a good card, Shark! Why didn't you keep it?"

"Not a water attribute. Can't use it."

"But..."

"Christmas. Remember?"

Yuma looked up. He grinned. Shark had to smile back.

"Oh, yeah!" Yuma said, rummaging in his pocket. "It's not really wrapped that well but...I got something for you too!"

Really? Shark was surprised. Didn't seem like Yuma to remember something like that. He wondered if it was something he just happened to have in his pocket and he was trying to save face or something. The thought made Shark laugh mentally – it was so like Yuma.

But no, the gift was actually wrapped, albeit in a terribly, overtaped way. It took Shark half a minute just to work it open – there was so much tape he could even just rip it.

He pulled the small object from the box. It appeared to be...well, it was in the shape of a Duel Monsters card, but it was hanging from a string...

"It's a...necklace?"

"Yeah! It's a card locket. I mean, I have my King's Key with Astral, and that always helps me remember what I'm dueling for in a sticky situation...I thought maybe you could put a picture of your sister in it or something! Just to have when you're dueling."

Shark glanced up at Yuma. He actually looked...uncertain.

"Stop making that face. It makes you look like more of a dork than usual," Shark said. Then he smiled. "Thanks, Yuma."

Yuma's look of surprise was enough to prompt a laugh from Shark.

"Geez. You really think I'm that much of a Scrooge?"

He pushed the back of Yuma's head and then took off running.

"Hey! That's no fair! Get back here!"

Shark just laughed as he ran down the street, listening to Yuma taking off after him.

This wasn't such a bad Christmas after all.


	16. Frosty the Snowman

**Featuring Angelshipping (Shou Marufuji/Syrus Truesdale x Jun Manjoume/Chazz Princeton)**

"This looks dumb."

"...you look dumb."

"This is such a kiddy thing to do."

"Nobody asked you to come out and do it with me."

Shou and Manjoume glowered at each other over the top of the half-finished snowman.

"What, you'd rather go back to playing snowball death with Judai?" Shou said.

Manjoume glanced back over at the other side of the school grounds, where Judai, Kenzan, and Kaiser were still going all out with the snowball fight. It looked like a war over there. Asuka appeared somewhere in the mix and plastered her brother in the face with a well aimed throw and Manjoume blanched a little.

"Think I'm gonna keep taking a break," he said.

"Then shut up about the snow man."

Manjoume rolled his eyes. Shou was a meticulous snow sculptor, although pieces kept falling off in his hands and he tried to plaster them back on with more snow.

"What are you even trying to make?"

Shou blushed.

"None of your business."

Manjoume stared at it for a long moment.

"...Lopsided Ojama?"

"No, you doofus, it's supposed to be the Dark Magician Girl!"

Manjoume burst out laughing. He stopped when Shou hit him in the face with a snowball.

"Oy! I thought we weren't doing snow balls!" he said.

"You're asking for it!"

"No, now you're asking for it!"

Manjoume scooped up a ball of snow and flung it at Shou. Shou ducked and threw another snowball as he fell. It hit Manjoume in the chest and, in his haste to try and dodge it, fell over into Shou's half-finished snowman.

"Augh!"

They both just laid there in the snow for a moment, not saying anything.

"...My Snow Magician Girl is ruined, isn't it?"

Manjoume couldn't keep in a snort. Snow Magician Girl.

"I mean, yes. Sorry."

"Meh. It looked terrible anyway. You were right."

Another silence passed. Neither of them made any attempts to get up, just staring up at the gray sky.

"...peaceful, huh?" Manjoume said.

"Mm."

"..."

"..."

"Wanna try and build another snowman?"

"Sure."

It was still several minutes before either of them sat up.


	17. Holly Jolly Christmas

**Featuring Faithshipping (Yusei x Aki)**

_Oh Lord, who would ever think this was a good idea?_

Aki stared at the sweater. It was the ugliest thing she had ever seen in her life – a gaudy mix of silver and gold sparkles combined with bright red and green designs that may have been meant to be elves but came across more like the results of a fever dream.

She was super glad that whoever that had sent her this was not in the room because she wasn't sure she would have been able to smile and say thank you.

She held it out in front of her, dangling between her finger tips, as though that would make it look any better from another angle. Nope. She wasn't seeing it. Although it was rather soft but...goodness, the design...it was making her head hurt...

"Aki, did you...oh. She got you too, huh."

Aki glanced up. She found a blush creeping over her cheeks, although from her own embarrassment or second-hand, she wasn't entirely certain.

"Yusei...um...what are you wearing?"

Yusei had on a sweater that looked even more ridiculous than her own. It was absolutely covered in knitted designs of bows in various colors, red, blue, green, white, purple...it didn't even look Christmas-y.

Yusei grimaced.

"So she sent you one too," he said. "It's from Martha. If you couldn't find the tag."

"Martha?" Aki said, surprised. "Martha sent this?"

She had seen Martha's knitting, and she was far better at designing things than _this_. Yusei didn't seem to be able to keep his smile in.

"Yeah. She's given everyone the ugliest Christmas sweaters she can find every year since I've known her. I think she thinks it's hilarious. You should see what she made Jack wear."

Aki tried to imagine Jack in anything other than his usual jacket and failed, although the idea of Jack in a horrible Christmas sweater was in fact hilarious.

"It's a running joke," Yusei said. "Although back in Satellite it was great just to have anything warm during the winter, no matter what it looked like...still, you should have seen Martha when she finally had access to the City's shops. She had a field day finding the ugliest sweaters possible."

Aki laughed softly. She looked over the sweater again. It _was_ really soft.

"I suppose I'm going to have to wear it?"

"For a little while, at least," Yusei said. "Well, I mean, you don't have to, but..."

Aki shook her head, smiling.

"If everyone else is going to, I want to match, then," she said.

She pulled the sweater over her head. It got caught on her hair roller, but she felt Yusei's soft hands gently help her tug it up and over that.

"Oh," she said. "It really is warm."

Yusei smiled.

"You look...pretty cute in that, Aki-san."

Aki flushed.

"Stop it," she muttered. "I do not."

"No, really."

Aki wished she could control her blush, but just smiled anyway.

"Well, you look cute in yours," she said, teasingly.

Yusei looked a bit miffed at being called 'cute', but his smile grew anyway, and he gave her a quick, gentle hug.

"Well...want to go see Jack and Crow? Their sweaters are terrible."

"I have to see that," Aki laughed.

His hand slid into hers, and they headed out into the hallway.


	18. Jingle Bells

**Featuring Courageshipping (Maiden of Aqua x Austin O'Brien) from Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

It was too _cold_. O'Brien wanted to do anything other than be out in this godforsaken weather. But he had had a job to do, and now that it was over, he was stuck in America for a few more days during the coldest month of the year, tramping through the snow to get back to his hotel.

He sighed. New York in the winter was a horrible place to be. Why couldn't his job had taken him to California? There at least it was a little warmer.

A soft heat warmed his breast. He glanced down at his breast pocket with curiosity. Fumbling for a minute with his gloved hands, he managed to flip open the pocket. This was where he kept the Maiden of Aqua card...

The card was glowing softly as he pulled it from his pocket. Half a second passed, and then the Maiden of Aqua was standing next to him, her breath spiraling into the air.

"Hello," she said brightly.

"Manami," O'Brien said, looking around quickly to make sure no one had seen. "You can't do that just at any time. Humans aren't used to spirits appearing at random."

"But I sensed you were feeling unhappy...is something wrong?"

Then she seemed to realize how cold it was, and wrapped her hands around her arms.

"Oh my! It certainly is cold! Is this why you were upset?"

O'Brien grimaced.

"Part of it," he said, starting to unbutton his jacket. "You need to look at where I am before you go dimension jumping."

Manami blushed.

"Oh, well...if you're in trouble, I want to come to you, now that we have a channel open...oh, no, please don't take off your jacket. Just a moment!"

She clapped her hands once, and water swirled around her for a moment. O'Brien hurriedly stepped over to make sure she was shielded from sight. Then the water solidified, and she was clad in a long coat, a hat, gloves and boots.

"Manami, again, not when everyone can see," O'Brien said. "We're not in your dimension right now..."

"Oops," Manami said, although she didn't look very guilty. Her attention was quickly claimed by the vast hills of snow in Central Park across the street. "Oh! How beautiful!"

Her voice was breathless and full of awe, deep blue eyes wide and sparkling with wonder.

O'Brien had to smile. He might not like snow, but her expression was enough to make even him think kindly of it for now.

"Isn't there snow in your dimension?" O'Brien asked.

"Not this _much_," she said. "We first met in Dark World, and it never snows there...and I'm from the Ocean Realm, and there's only really snow in the poles. I rarely go there...I got into a fight with one of the keepers of the Ice Barrier and I've been trying to avoid her for a while."

She rubbed her hands together. Then she seemed to become fascinated with the sight of her breath in the air and breathed out a few more times over-exaggeratedly so that she could watch it float into the air.

O'Brien felt himself relax in a way that he rarely found himself able to. She had an aura like that, one that reminded him that he wasn't in a high-risk situation and it was okay to calm down.

"Are you staying long?" he asked.

"Well, I don't see why not," she said. "I mean, I can only materialize on this plane for a few days at a time, but there's nothing pressing for me to get back to..."

A soft jingling sound caught both of their attention.

"Oh, what's that?" Manami said, looking interested.

It was a sleigh, pulled by a large black Clydesdale that sported jingle bells hanging from its harness. They made their pretty jingling sound as it came to a stop and the couple that had been riding started to get off.

O'Brien glanced at Manami. She was staring at the couple and the sleigh, watching the pair laugh and hold hands as they moved away from the sleigh.

"Did you want to go for a ride?" O'Brien asked, extending his hand to her.

Her whole face lit up. She put her small hand into his and they crossed the street. The driver gave the pair of them a toothy grin.

"Evening, evening," he said. "You make a cute couple. Want to go for a ride around the park?"

"Yes, please!" Manami said. She looked incredibly happy at him calling them a 'cute couple', and O'Brien smiled.

O'Brien paid the man and then helped Manami up into the sleigh. The bells jingled again as the man nudged the horse forward, and they started off, a smooth a takeoff as any O'Brien had known.

Manami's eyes were everywhere, taking in all the sights.

"Look, the way the snow just hangs on the trees there...it looks like they're dressed up for the winter!"

"Yeah...I guess it is pretty, huh?"

"It's beautiful!"

Well, the snow was pretty...but O'Brien's eyes kept wandering back to Manami's bright eyes and wide smile. He smiled slowly.

It was nice to relax once in a while. He was lucky to have her here, to remind him that it was okay.

He reached across the aisle to put his hand on her knee. She didn't quite look at him, but he saw her smile. Her own hand rested lightly on top of his.

Silence. That was good too.

Only the sound of bells jingling filled the space.


	19. Merry Christmas All

**Featuring Guinevere x Morgana from BBC's ****_Merlin_****. A modern-day college AU in which Gwen and Morgana are roomates.**

It smelled absolutely heavenly, even out in the hallway. Morgana opened the door, sniffing at the air with a sigh.

"Smells like someone's been busy," she teased as Gwen bustled into view.

Gwen's cheeks deepened a bit in color.

"Well, once I got started, I just couldn't stop," she said. "I've made a mess of the kitchen."

Morgana smiled, sweeping across the last few feet to her girlfriend to put a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"And I," she said, snagging a cookie off the top of the plate Gwen was holding, "am going to clean it up, since you were so incredibly gracious as to make these."

"You don't have to do that," Gwen said quickly.

"But I'm going toooo," Morgana said in a sing-song voice.

She swept into their shared apartment kitchen, feeling selfishly glad that their other dorm mates were not around.

"My goodness, you _did_ make a lot!" she said. There was a huge plate of cookies sitting on the counter, possibly about four batches worth. "Planning on feeding a small army?"

"Merlin eats enough for a small army," Gwen said, raising her eyebrows and grinning.

Morgana had to laugh.

"And Arthur enough for two," she said. "All right, you've done enough. Go eat some of these while I clean up."

"Morgana, I said you don't have to...I made the mess..."

"And I'm going to be eating a good forty percent of these, so I _insist_ that you go sit down and wait for me to clean up. I also insist that you remain waiting so that I can come over and snuggle you when I'm done."

Gwen covered her smile with one hand as Morgana pushed her towards the couch.

"All right, all right," she said. "Don't take too long. I might eat all of these."

"Well that's less for the boys, so I won't complain," Morgana laughed as she returned to the counter to do the dishes. "Actually, what if we just didn't tell them that these even existed? They don't have to know."

Gwen laughed.

"I think it's a little late for that," she said.

"What _is_ that heavenly _smell_?" came Arthur's loud voice from somewhere down the dormitory hall.

Morgana rolled her eyes as Gwen giggled.

"So much for some alone time, hm? I'm still going to cuddle you when I get over there."

Morgana flashed her girlfriend another smile and got to work. After she had eaten another cookie, of course.

Mm. Gwen's cookies were heaven.


	20. Blessings on the Menorah

**Time for some Vegeta x Bulma. Hanukkah isn't really related to Christmas at all except for the time of year, but I recently acquired (cough stole cough) the headcanon that the Briefs family are Jewish, and thus would celebrate Hanukkah...so here's a little something for any Jewish readers who are maybe sick of Christmas stuff. If I make any mistakes please let me know and I'll fix them.**

"What is this?"

Bulma glanced up from a box that she was opening. She followed Vegeta's gaze to the table, where the nine-branched menorah sat.

"It's a menorah," she said. "It's for Hanukkah."

Vegeta's brow furrowed.

"Menorah? Hanukkah? What the hell are those?"

Bulma rolled her eyes, but, then again, it wasn't the Saiyan prince's fault that he didn't know what it was. Everything would be new to him on this planet, she expected.

"It's a holiday. Hanukkah is, I mean. And the menorah's basically the centerpiece...at least it's the one thing that everyone who doesn't celebrate the holiday recognizes."

Vegeta stared at the object dubiously. He picked it up and started turning it over in his hands. Bulma snatched it back.

"Oy, gorilla hands, careful. I don't want you to snap it in half."

Vegeta glowered at her.

"I'm not _stupid,_" he said.

"Had me fooled," said Bulma, placing the menorah carefully back on the table.

"What the hell do you do with it?" Vegeta asked. "It doesn't look like anything."

"It's a candle holder, you nimrod. What, they didn't have candles back on monkey planet?"

The look on Vegeta's face was priceless – a mixture of irritation at being insulted and anger at the fact that he in fact had no idea what a candle was and didn't want to admit it.

Bulma covered her hand with her mouth to hide her soft snort. All right. She would take pity on him, the poor confused extraterrestrial.

"Here," she said, pulling candles out of the box and starting to place them into the holders. "These are candles. Hanukkah takes place over eight days. Every night after sunset you light another candle."

"Why?" Vegeta asked. "Sounds stupid."

Bulma rolled her eyes and pulled the _shamash_ candle out last, fumbling in her pocket for a lighter.

"It's a symbol. Because back in Jerusalem, there wasn't enough oil to keep the fire in the temple going during a siege, and..." she paused to get the light going again and light the _shamash_, "and then there was a miracle; the fire stayed lit for eight more days."

Vegeta looked actually rather fascinated by the flame, a spark of 'oh, that's what a candle does' flashing in his eyes.

"And it's the first night of Hanukkah, so we light a candle," she said, reaching across.

She caught the first candle on the left alight with the flame on the _shamash_. Then she reached back to the wall to flip off the light, so that only the candle flame lit up the darkness.

The flickering orange light lit the sharp edges of Vegeta's face with a surprising artistry. Her breath actually caught in her throat for a minute. Damn. He was far more attractive that she remembered.

Vegeta himself was staring at the little flickering flame, fascinated. The light shone in his deep, dark eyes.

Then he glanced up at Bulma, realizing she was staring at him.

He let out a somewhat irritated cough, as though upset that Bulma had seen him acting so interested in something so stupid. A smile twitched at Bulma's lips.

"Well, it's not entirely stupid," Vegeta grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Glad to have gotten your approval," said Bulma, just rolling her eyes and smiling as she went to turn the lights back on.


	21. White Christmas

**Featuring Pineshipping (Fubuki Tenjoin x Sara | Atticus Rhodes x Yasmin/Gravekeeper's Assailant)**

_Bumf._

The soft touch of a hand against his shoulder.

"MmmMmmmMMMmmmm..."

"Fubuki!"

"mmMMmmph..."

"_Fubuki!_"

He gasped as cold air dropped down on him like an evil blanket – and speaking of blankets where had his gone?

He fumbled around wildly, eyes still half closed.

"Fubuki-san, you need to wake up, something terrible has happened!"

It took him several minutes to come into his full senses and comprehend the image of the person hanging over him. She was still wearing her large green earrings, and they dangled against her soft tan cheeks. Her normally tightly bound black hair fell long and dark around her shoulders and into her deep brown eyes, sticking up in a few places from sleeping against a pillow. Oooh, right. He remembered now; Sara had spent the night.

He groaned as he sat up, his mouth and tongue feeling dry and dusty.

"So...what? What happened?" he said.

Sara pointed out the window, her eyes wide and her body tense. He recognized that stance, he had seen it a few times during the weeks he had been trapped in the Gravekeeper's dimension, hiding in corners while Sara would sneak into the catacombs with food for him. She had always come to find him with that tense expression, always on edge. Always worried about something, about who might be following, alert to every little sound. He had hoped that she could relax while she was visiting him in his dimension...

His eyes wandered to the window. He couldn't see anything through the glass. Nothing but pure white.

"Do you see? Something terrible has happened! The world isn't out there anymore – I fear we have fallen into a between dimension!"

Fubuki tried so, so hard not to laugh, trying to remember that the world that Sara came from was far more dangerous than his and she had a right to be worried and startled at this turn of events.

"It's fine, Sara, we're fine. We're still in my world."

"But –"

"It's _snow_, Sara. Just snow."

She blinked. Some of her tensity dissipated as she considered the word.

"...snow?"

"Yeah. Snow. You know...cold white stuff that falls from the sky?"

Sara glanced up at the ceiling in thought for a brief moment.

"Yes, I _have_ heard of the phenomenon...although it doesn't occur in my country."

Fubuki smiled.

"It's cold, and kind of wet," he said. "Piles up everywhere. Geez, if there's that much...ha! Maybe I don't have to go to school today."

He slipped out of bed and tried the window. It opened and most of the snow fell back down to the ground, although some scattered across his arms and he flinched. Sara was at his side in an instant and he put his hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay. It was just a surprise; it's really cold...see?"

He scooped a bit off the window sill and held it out to her. She narrowed her eyes in interest as she touched it – and flinched back with surprise.

"It is freezing!" she said. "Oh...and the air is...very cold..."

She hugged her arms as a breeze came in through the window. Fubuki closed it hurriedly.

"Sorry," he said. But he had managed to see what he needed to see – the snow was deep enough that it was covering the dorm doors, so there wouldn't be any getting out and going to classes today. At least, not as far as he was concerned. "Actually, all this snow is pretty lucky!"

"It is?" Sara said, looking surprised.

"Yep! It's blocking the door. It'll be a few hours before they get it cleared up...if even that quickly. That means I can stay here with you for a while!"

He grinned like a maniac – when was the last time he had been able to enjoy a day of being snowed in?

"So...being trapped in the building is good?" Sara said, raising an eyebrow.

Fubuki hugged her and spun her around, and she squeaked with a bit of surprise and then laughter.

"Being snowed-in is great when you have company," he said with a grin. "Let's make some hot chocolate, and then we can cuddle. That sounds great, right?"

Sara shook her head, smiling at his enthusiasm. She leaned down from his arms to plant a kiss on his forehead.

"As long as I'm with you and you're smiling, then _everything_ sounds great."


	22. If It Doesn't Snow On Christmas

**Featuring Kyoko Sakura x Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica**

Sayaka had been complaining for the past three hours about how there was no snow.

"_It's not gonna be a good Christmas without snow!"_ she had said. _"And what's the point of it being so freaking cold outside if there's no snow?"_

Kyoko Sakura herself wasn't particularly keen on snow. Usually it meant she'd be huddling inside the church under some moth eaten blankets and hoping not too much of the cold white stuff got in through the holes in the roof. This year, she wasn't sure what to think; as she _was_ lucky enough to be allowed to crash at Sayaka's place until she could afford an apartment or something. Her parents were pretty laid-back; she was glad for that.

So maybe snow would be okay if she didn't have to live in it. Still, the thought of the sloppy stuff made her wrinkle her nose in disgust.

Sayaka had gone uncharacteristically quiet from her spot on the couch. Kyoko leaned over the back of the couch to see what was up.

Then she had to smother a smile. She was fast asleep, the little rascal. When had that happened?

Heat radiated off from the fireplace just in front of the couch. A fireplace. Who would have thought Sayaka was well off enough to have something so fancy. Kyoko sighed like a contented cat, closing her eyes and letting the heat blow into her face. Then she opened her eyes again and looked down at the sleeping Sayaka.

She was at a pretty uncomfortable looking angle, her head lolling to the side and her mouth hanging open. One arm was flung back over the side of the couch, the other was wedged behind her head. Kyoko sniggered.

"Sayaka," she whispered.

Sayaka's breathing didn't change.

"Sayaka," Kyoko tried again.

Nope. She was dead asleep. Kyoko pressed her lips together to try and restrain her giggles.

She came around the couch and stood in front of the sleeping girl. The heat of the fire radiated against her back now, and she had to pause for a moment to enjoy it. Grinning, she reached over to the end table beside the couch and filched one of Sayaka's half finished cookies, popping the sugary circle into her mouth. Ummm. Heat, and food – the two things she loved most of all.

She reached over to pulled Sayaka's arms down from their unnatural positions, carefully situating the peaceful girl. She stirred slightly, but didn't not awaken. Kyoko found herself blushing a bit, and it didn't have to do with the heat.

Kyoko settled onto the couch beside Sayaka. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if Sayaka would be okay with this. Like, they had held hands before, but she wasn't sure if Sayaka had thought of it the same way that Kyoko had thought about it.

Quietly, she snuggled up close to Sayaka, their shoulders pressing together. Kyoko carefully pulled Sayaka into a position leaning against her, thinking at least this would be more comfortable, right? Sayaka's head rolled onto Kyoko's chest. Kyoko felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Maybe Sayaka would get mad about this. Maybe she didn't want to cuddle.

But Kyoko was cold, and Sayaka was warm, and the feeling of Sayaka's solid weight against Kyoko was a nice one. She wasn't sure she wanted to move.

Sayaka stirred again in her sleep. Her eyes half fluttered open and Kyoko's blush deepened.

It was hard to tell if she actually woke up fully. But a half smile seemed to flicker on her lips, and she kind of shifted in her sleep, settling deeper into Kyoko's arms. One of her arms even slid around Kyoko's waist.

Kyoko smiled, a bit sheepish and happy all at once. Maybe she had just done it in her sleep.

But it was nice, either way. And she was glad to be able to sit like this with her.

_Go ahead and snow_, she thought at the sky somewhere above the roof of the house. _I don't care. I'm warm right here. You can't touch me, cold. Not anymore._

Kyoko sighed and dropped her head against the top of Sayaka's. It wasn't long before the warmth got to her, and she, too, fell fast asleep.


	23. Santa Claus is Coming to Town

**Featuring Polarshipping (Katsuya Jonouchi x Mai Kujaku)**

"Hmmmm."

Mai held two small boxes in her hands, staring at each necklace inside for probably longer than was necessary.

_Tap, tap, tap._

She pressed her lips together and tried to ignore the noise.

_Tap, tap, tap._

She blew out irritably.

"Could you stop doing that?" she said.

Jonouchi blinked.

"Doing what?" he said.

"Tapping. You keep tapping your foot. I know I'm taking a while, but please calm down. We'll go when I'm ready."

"But I wasn't..." Jonouchi started.

Mai glanced at his foot, which was _still_ tapping. He also looked down. A sheepish grin grew over his face as he stopped tapping.

"Sorry."

Mai rolled her eyes, but flashed him a smile anyway.

It was incredibly busy in the jewelry store, despite how close Christmas was. She would have thought everyone would have gotten their shopping done already; it was why she had chosen today to go Christmas shopping. Several people jostled her as she was examining the necklaces, apparently in too much of a hurry to go around through the wide open part of the aisle. She glared at their backs as they hurried onward.

"Ugh, I can't decide," she said. "Jou, which one do think Anzu would like better? And are either of them appropriate for Ishizu?"

Jonouchi grimaced. He looked between the two necklaces.

"I dunno why you're asking me," Jonouchi said. "I don't know a thing about this stuff..."

"You've been friends with Anzu for at least a year, right? You should have an idea of what she likes..."

Jonouchi kinda frowned, obviously trying really hard to imagine what Anzu would be interested in.

"Umm...I think I'd go with the silver one. I think she likes silver."

"You _think_?"

"Pretty sure."

Mai sighed.

"All right, we'll go with this one...I guess the gold one would suit Ishizu-san...she looks good in gold."

She put both boxes into her basket that was already packed pretty high.

"What about Shizuka? Does she like jewelry?"

"I was just thinkin' that myself..."

Jonouchi lifted a small necklace from a rack, one with a big pink rose on the end.

"I know she likes flowers..." he said.

Then he turned over the tag to see the price and visibly flinched.

"But maybe I'll look somewhere else," he said hurriedly, putting the necklace back.

Mai hid her smile with the back of her hand.

"Shizuka will be happy with anything you give her, you know," she said.

"Yeah...I still want it to be kinda special though. I haven't gotten her a Christmas present since our parents divorced."

He looked really worried. Mai smiled a little sadly and put her hand on his elbow.

"You're a good big brother," she said. "I promise you that. She'll be so excited about any gift you give her, it will be like you're Santa Claus!"

Jonouchi half-smiled, looking pretty grateful for Mai's reassurance.

"Well, this Santa is on somethin' of a tight budget, so how about we finish up at this fancy place and head somewhere else," he said.

"If you say so," Mai said, linking her arm into his.

They smiled at each other before they started on their way through the crowds of people to the door.


	24. Carol of the Bells

**Featuring Trustshipping (Seto Kaiba x Ishizu Ishtar)**

"I swear to _God_ if I hear _one_ more _Christmas carol –_"

There was a sputtering of laughter from somewhere outside the window as Seto stormed over and glared outside. His blue eyes flicked around the yard but couldn't locate the source of where the really loud, really off-key music had been coming from. Ishizu hid her smile behind her hand as Seto ripped open the window.

"_Mokuba! Noa! _I know it's you – and you both know that I'm _working_! That's _enough_!"

He snapped the window shut and then dropped the shades.

Ishizu tried to press her lips together to smother the smile as Seto stalked back to his desk, but it was nearly impossible. He sent her a half-glare as she quickly looked down at the magazine she had been leafing through.

"Don't you even think about laughing," he said.

"Wasn't thinking about it," Ishizu said, but it _was_ bubbling up in her throat against her will.

Seto scowled.

"This goddamn season. I hate this whole goddamn season," he muttered, flipping through the papers on his desk with a little too much force. "Everyone goes _insane_. Not to mention no matter what I do the budgets get messed up...people not paying attention to their work because goddamn Pegasus won't stop hacking my goddamn PA system and playing goddamn Christmas carols..."

"And that's why you're working from home today, isn't it?" Ishizu said.

"Thought I wouldn't have to deal with it here...damn those two."

He was in a really bad mood today. Ishizu didn't want to laugh because it felt mean and insensitive, but it was rare that Seto showed this much emotion in this exaggerated a fashion, and it was honestly quite amusing.

"You're laughing at me."

"No I'm not."

"You're doing it in your head."

Ishizu smiled at him over the top of her magazine.

"Oh, did your contact with the Millennium Eye give you the ability to read my mind?"

Seto snorted at her, but the comment did bring half a sardonic smile to his face. She set her magazine down and reached across the desk to put a gentle hand on his arm.

"Mokuba and Noa are just being teenagers. It's what they do. And they're probably hoping it will make you laugh – you don't do that enough, you know."

Seto sighed.

"I know. That doesn't stop me from getting annoyed by the goddamn Christmas music – it's the same every single year. I can't stand it."

"I don't know...it's kind of cute. I like it."

"Yeah, well you haven't had to deal with it for as long; after about twenty Christmases it gets old."

He was relaxing though, and had stopped writing with enough violence to almost rip his paper. Ishizu smiled. There we go.

At least, he was relaxing until the loud voices of Mokuba and Noa came through the wall again.

"_We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAAASSSS –"_

"GODDAMMIT YOU TWO!"

Ishizu couldn't help it. She laughed. She laughed so hard that she almost fell off her chair, so hard that she could hardly breathe for a few moments and tears were starting to form in her eyes.

Seto glared at her – but even he didn't seem to be able to hold that expression for long. Her laughter seemed to get to him, and a half-smile twitched at the edges of his mouth.

"I'm glad I'm so amusing to you," he said, only half joking.

Ishizu couldn't respond. She was still laughing.


	25. Marshmallow World

**Featuring Peachshipping (Yugi x Anzu)**

"I don't know, Anzu-chan...I feel like a marshmallow."

"A super adorable marshmallow," Anzu said with a half-smothered giggle.

Yugi blushed deeply and tugged self consciously at the edge of the sweater.

It was the brightest white he had ever seen. Seriously, it was almost blinding. Add to that gaudy silver and gold designs of prancing reindeer and pale blue snowmen alternating with red and green zigzags, and you had the makings of the most visually offensive Christmas sweater the world had ever seen. Not to mention it was really, really thick, and made him feel like he was double his normal waist size.

"You don't _have_ to wear it if you don't want to," said Anzu, fixing the back of his sweater as it had gotten all bunched up. "We can find a different one for the Christmas party."

She stepped back to appraise his look. A smile grew across her face.

"But you really do look pretty cute in that, Yugi," she said. "I could just hug you all day long!"

Yugi ducked his head, hoping Anzu wouldn't see his face going a cherry red. He wouldn't mind cuddling with Anzu like that...

"Um, it's okay, Anzu-chan, this one is fine. The theme is ugly sweaters anyway...it will work, right?"

"I guess...although I don't see how that could look too ugly on you; you pull it off, Yugi!"

Geez, was she going to keep making him blush?

"U-um, what sweater are you wearing then?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Anzu sighed.

"I couldn't find anything that wasn't totally horrendous," she said, turning to rummage in her closet. "But...here, what do you think?"

In Yugi's opinion, it was far better than his own goofy sweater. It was a deep, deep red, with little green wreaths encircling the whole thing in rows that were alternated with lines of dark blue and little pink ribbons.

"It's just too many colors," Anzu said, frowning. "The wreaths are cute but..."

"I think it will look good on you, Anzu-chan," Yugi said. "You look nice in red."

Anzu smiled, a little shyly.

"Aw, thanks, Yugi...well, let's see."

Anzu fumbled for the armholes for a moment, and then drew the sweater over her head with a crackle of static.

"Ugh! Static-y," she muttered. "There we go. What do you think?"

Yugi thought she looked pretty cute, actually. Sure, it was a pretty ugly sweater, but it hung baggily from her arms and shoulders in a cute, oversized look that made her look a little smaller than she actually was.

"It looks cute on you," Yugi said. "You look nice in pretty much anything."

Anzu blushed a little.

"Well, as long as it fits the sweater criteria..." she said with a laugh. "Thanks, though, Yugi, I really appreciate that...especially since Jonouchi is going to make so much fun of me when he sees it. I need the ego boost before hand!"

"Same," Yugi said, grinning.

Anzu hopped over to him and hugged him tightly for a moment.

"Ah, I was right, your sweater is really soft and huggable!"

Yugi hugged her back a bit awkwardly, but smiled anyway. Well, if the sweater was going to increase his chances of getting Anzu hugs...who was he to complain about its looks?


	26. Wonderful Christmastime

**Featuring Link x Zelda from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword**

Brrr. It certainly did get cold beneath the clouds!

Zelda drew her cloak around her ever tighter. Even in the house with the fire crackling the cold of the outside had found its way in. Where _was_ Link in this weather? He had said he would be back a half hour ago. What was he thinking of doing in the cold, anyway? She shivered again and snuggled deeper into her cloak. She thought wistfully of the sky for a brief moment, and its mild winters that were more like prolonged autumns than actual winters. But she let go of the thoughts almost immediately. It was far better down here, cold and snow and all.

"Zelda!" Link's voice wafted through the door. "Zelda, come out for a second and look at this."

"Come out? In the cold?" she called back, but she was half joking as she was already standing up.

The door popped open and Link's goofy, smiling face appeared, a dusting of snow on his floppy green hat.

"I promise it's worth it, just for a second!"

"It had better be worth it," Zelda said with a smile.

Link held his hand out to her as she approached the door and she took it with a smile, letting him draw her across the threshold and making sure to brush just a little too close to him than was entirely necessary.

"Okay, now turn around," Link said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

She did so. And let out a soft, wondrous gasp.

There were little spheres of light hanging from the edges of their roof. They came in various colors, soft gold, pale blue-green, light magenta.

"Oh, Link," she breathed. "What are they? Where did you get them?"

"The Kikwis showed them to me," Link said. "They're called glowfruit. They're not edible, and they only produce fruit in the middle of winter and only glow at night. But don't you think it's worth it?"

"Yes," Zelda said, her voice breathy as it let off a trail of steam. "Oh, it definitely is."

She leaned back against Link, and his arms slid around her waist. They stood there, just for a few moments, in the silence and cold, staring up at the softly glowing fruit that made their home a beacon in the middle of the small settlement.

"You're too romantic for your own good," Zelda whispered.

Link smiled down at her. He gave her a quick kiss on the head.

"Does that mean I get a kiss later?" he said.

"You might just get _more_ than a kiss if we go back to the fire now," Zelda said, raising her eyebrows and smiling.

They took each other's hands, looked up at the fruit one more time, then smiled at each other, and returned to the warmth of their home.


	27. Someday at Christmas

**Featuring Link x Irene from Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds**

"Liiiiink! Link! Oy, Link!"

Irene swooped in circles around Link's house on her broomstick.

"LIIIINK!"

Finally, the door opened, and a very confused looking Link peered out into the snowy night.

"Oh, Irene?" he said. "What's up?"

Irene swooped down and skidded onto the ground in front of Link, sending a flurry of snow at his face. He only barely managed to duck behind the door in time.

"Where have you been all day?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "It's the Solstice, isn't it? I thought you'd be at the celebrations in town; I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Link ducked his head a bit. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, I...I haven't been going to the Solstice celebrations for a few years now...I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well...I mean...the Solstice is a day to spend with family and..."

His voice trailed off. He stared down at the snow, shifting silently on his feet. Irene felt her heart sink for a moment. Oh. Right. How long had Link been living alone, anyway? It was a tiny, but well-loved little home that he lived in...how long had he been here all by himself? How many years had he spent Solstice night just staring at a fireplace by himself, not wanting to brave the cold to join in celebrations that he would just feel lonely at and have to return to an empty house later?

"Sorry, again, I didn't know you'd be waiting...I do like the Solstice but I've never really had anyone to spend it with so I just stopped going and..."

"Link, get on my broom."

"H-huh?"

"Get on the broomstick right now, greenie. We're going to a party."

"Um..."

Irene wasn't waiting for an answer. She snapped her fingers and sent Link floating into the air, then pulled him by the collar onto her broomstick before hopping on in front of him.

"Hang on tight there Mister!"

"I-Irene, wait a minute –"

But then she zoomed into the air, and with a squeak, he threw his arms around her waist and held on so tightly that she thought she was going to suffocate.

"Oh, is Hyrule's great hero scared of my takeoff?" Irene laughed.

"Y-you usually don't take off that fast! Anyway, Irene, hang on, where are we..."

"You're coming with me. You're going to spend the night at my house."

"But..."

"All my aunties and uncles and cousins are here to stay with Gran for the holidays, and we're having a huge party. I want you to be there."

"But I don't want to intrude on your family..."

Irene swiveled her head back to face Link. Before she could think better of it, she leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips. Link seemed to kind of panic for a moment, and then tentatively kissed her back. They ended it pretty quickly, and Irene just as quickly turned back around to face front, as her broomstick had started to dip lower.

A silence filled the air for a moment.

"I want you to share my family tonight, okay?" she said finally. "Goodness knows I've got enough relatives to go around. You can just have some of them."

Link laughed softly. His arms, still around her waist, squeezed her lightly, and with a small sigh, he leaned his head onto her shoulder.

"Thank you," he whispered.

That was all Irene needed to feel a warmth grow in her chest and a smile appear on her face. It was a feeling that would last for the rest of the night.


	28. The Christmas Waltz

**Featuring Roseshipping (Pegasus x Cyndia/Cecelia)**

Pegasus nursed his glass of wine, laughing politely at the joke one of his fellow party goers had made – even though he didn't really find it amusing. The ballroom was absolutely ostentatious, and that was coming from Pegasus J. Crawford. He usually loved ostentatious. Today, though, it just felt too gaudy, and he was starting to get a headache.

Golden ribbons arched from every possible ledge, alternating with thick red velvet bows and sprigs of (fake) holly. Fake poinsettias formed the centerpiece of ever single table, practically dripping with plastic silver dew and little gold and silver spheres dotted around the leaves. The tablecloths were all of a suitably high material, embroidered with gold and silver thread in the designs of Christmas bells. A humongous tree (also fake, and made with a white and silver sparkly material) sat in the corner of the ballroom, a good twenty feet high, and strung up with the brightest twinkling lights and an outrageous display of millions of colors and shapes of ornaments. None of them quite matched each other, as though the decorator had simply wanted to show off all of the expensive and antique ornaments he owned; which was probably the point. In short, it was all beautiful, but too much. And this coming from the man who loved "too much", especially Christmas.

He sighed quietly as the idle chatter continued, feeling detached from his surroundings. He did not want to be here tonight. If it wasn't important to make an appearance for the sake of his company, he wouldn't have shown up. He would have spent his Christmas in one of his small, homey side rooms, with a real Christmas tree decorated with only a handful of mismatched ornaments, both handmade and cheap spheres with signatures and dates scrawled across them, a fire crackling in the fireplace that was decorated with real poinsettias, and a mug of warm chocolate in his hands. A quiet Christmas. One that...

Hm. Best not to let the thoughts stray that way.

After a few more moments of pretending to listen to the conversation while actually listening to the string orchestra play beautiful renditions of Christmas songs (the only thing he enjoyed about this party, to be honest), he quietly nodded to the other three and wandered away towards the dance floor.

He just hovered on the edge with his wine glass, watching the sparse group of couples twirl about. He had to smile, remembering his first fancy party like this. When he had been only ten years old, and he had met Cyndia for the first time. He had been too shy to talk to her after he had been introduced, but Cyndia hadn't been. When the music started playing, she had grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out in the middle of the floor, laughing when he stepped on her toes and teaching him how to do the waltz. Every party after, they had always done that silly dance together.

It was nice to know that the memories didn't really hurt anymore. They were a lightness in his chest instead, a warmth in the base of his stomach. He could remember her smile as clear as ever before, but it no longer sent a pang of regret through him. It only made him smile, made his shoulders relax and the knot in his stomach start to untangle. Her memory was no longer a source of pain – it was a source of comfort.

He did miss the dancing, though. What he would give for just one more dance with her.

And then, it seemed there was a brief rustle of wind past his side. A quick glance told him nothing and no one was there. No one had rushed past him to create such a breeze. So where...

His eyes seemed to move on his own, almost as though someone's hand was pushing his chin gently in another direction. He saw a young woman hovering at the edge of the dance floor, in a deep purple dress with a black bodice, and her ginger hair done up in a bun. She was chewing on her lip and looking just the slightest hint teary-eyed. Oh dear. He wondered who had left her waiting, and for how long.

"_She's been waiting for about a half hour, and he isn't coming back,"_ he thought he heard someone whisper. _"What do you say? One turn around the floor?"_

For a moment he felt a heat on his shoulder – like a hand squeezing it.

And then the feeling was gone. It left only a warmth hin his heart behind.

He had to smile, even as a tiny tear found its way into his eye.

"Ah, Cyndia," he murmured. "You just can't keep yourself from interfering, can you?"

He shook his head. He wiped the tiny tear away. Then a real smile spread across his face as he crossed the dance floor to the young lady.

"Hello, my dear," he said, sweeping a bow to her. "Might I have a dance with you, my fair angel?"

She blushed, and a smile perked at the edges of her lips.

"Oh," she said, putting a hand over her mouth to try and hide her embarrassment. "Why, thank you, sir. I would love to."

She put her hand in his and he lead her onto the floor. She ducked her head as he put his hand on her waist.

"Ummm," she whispered. "I'm not really good at dancing...that's probably why he...I mean..."

Pegasus smiled.

"I'm not either, my dear," he said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I've found that pretending, though, can make you look like you know what you're doing to outside eyes."

A shy smile grew across her face. As the next song began and the dance started, Pegasus glanced over the girl's shoulder.

For a moment, he saw her, standing there at the edge of the crowd, in that deep green Christmas dress that he had loved the most. She smiled.

"_Be happy."_

And she was gone.

He closed his eyes for a moment to let the music wash over him.

_Thank you._


	29. Merry Christmas Darling

**Featuring Mizushipping (Kisara x Priest Set)**

Kisara pressed her nose to the window, her breath fogging the glass. Her eyes grew wide at the collection of moving train sets and blinking lights that decorated the inside window.

"Look, Lord Set, they light up by themselves!"

"Kisara, you know you don't have to call me 'Lord Set' in this time," Set said, half smiling. "People will look at us strangely."

Kisara's fair skin went slightly pink.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's fine. Don't apologize."

She was still blushing. Set had to smile. No matter where they were, she was always Kisara.

He dug hands deeper into his pockets and buried his nose into his scarf. They had been in the modern world for only a few days, and he still wasn't used to the cold. He missed Kemet.

Kisara finally stepped away from the window. She smiled up at Set, her breath making patterns in the air.

"It really is beautiful, all of these lights and decorations," she said. "I wonder what it's all for. This time is truly beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Set murmured, but his eyes were on Kisara's deep blue eyes and softly sculpted face as he said it.

Her hair glimmered in a street light as she slid her arm around his and they started down the street to the next shop.

"Oh! What are those? Some kind of charm?"

Kisara pointed out a man who was handing little curved sticks in red and white stripes to the children passing by. He was dressed in a big red coat with white trim, and appeared to be wearing a fake white beard.

"Looks like it," Set said. "I wonder what they're for."

Kisara, too interested to stay with Set's leisurely pace, let go of his arm and trotted down the street. Set smiled. He couldn't hear what was being said, but the man in the red coat gave a bellowing laugh and pressed a pair of the charms into Kisara's hands, gesturing at the children who were leaving with their own. She bowed to him in thanks and then hurried back with the items.

"They're not charms – they are sweets!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "Let's try them, Lord Set!"

Set chuckled softly, but decided not to correct her this time. He accepted the cane she offered to him and turned it over in his hand.

"This is something to eat?" he said.

"The man says that they're to be licked...oh, they're covered with a wrapping..."

She had licked it before removing the packaging, and looked a bit sheepish as she pulled off her glove to help her peel the plastic away. Set followed suit. It took a few tries to free it from the wrapping. He then licked it experimentally. Oh. It was sweet. And...what was this sort of refreshing quality about the taste?

He glanced at Kisara. She was closing her eyes in enjoyment.

"It tastes somehow purifying!" she said, sounding almost in awe. "I wonder what they are called...and what they are made from!"

Set gave his another taste. It really _was_ good.

The best part, though, was Kisara's face. This was a real treat for her, wasn't it? Back in Egypt...she had not had the chance to try many delicacies. He had to smile – she was so, so precious.

He linked his arm with hers again.

"Let's ask Yugi," he said. "And then I will buy you more of them."

Kisara blushed.

"I won't say no," she said, licking the cane again and looking positively radiant over the taste.

She leaned her head into his shoulder and they continued down the cold, snowy street.


End file.
